


Of Dragons and Gods

by Gemini888



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-04-13 01:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 53
Words: 159,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4503078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini888/pseuds/Gemini888
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Heartfilia: Fairy Tail's resident Celestial Spirit Mage who is currently in love with the Guild's own Fire Dragon Slayer. </p><p>Natsu Dragneel: One of Fairy Tail's aces; a powerhouse Mage that is more than conflicted and confused about his feelings for Lucy.</p><p>Suberashi: A ancient, powerful, and fabled Guild straight from legends. Only, now, it's no longer fabled, nor does 'just a children's fairy tale' quite fit the reality of their sudden presence. </p><p>With Natsu unintentionally hurting Lucy emotionally and with Suberashi's sudden interest in her, will she leave Fairy Tail and accept their offer to give her the powers of a 'God.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start of a New Journey!

**Author's Note:**

> My first Fairy Tail Fanfic, enjoy!!

"LUUUUUCCCCY!!!" Happy's high voiced beamed through the guild hall and both he and Natsu burst through the doors, causing the Spirit Mage to become distracted in her search for a job.

"Hey, guys!" Lucy beamed and waved from her position at the job board. 

"What's up?" Natsu asked as he got closer.

"Looking for a job, Lucy?" Happy added, "Rent time again?"

"Yea, actually..." She trailed off looking disappointed. "Honestly, it seems like I never get caught up, it's times like this I miss being rich." She joked. "Anyways, I was thinking about taking a high paying job. That way I could just save the money and not have to worry about rent for a while, then other small jobs I do can pay for food and little things."

"Shouldn't you have planned you lifestyle three years ago, when you came to Fairy Tail?" Happy obviously pointed out.

"Shut up, cat! But," Lucy sighed at his insight, "you're right, I should have!" she chuckled. "Let's see what we have here." She resumed her search, continuing where she left off. 100,000, too little. 250,000, only three months. If only I could do an S class. 500,000, that's good, but it says there's a lot of fighting... Hm, here!!

Lucy pulled the poster she spotted off the board at eyed it with intensity. The flyer read: 

Magical Anomaly Near Crocus

Recently, surges of magical power have been originating somewhere around the outskirts of the Capitol, Crocus. These random influxes have caused a temporary drain on both magical items and Mages alike. I am looking for a Mage with two qualities. The Mage must be a problem solver and the Mage must also have the ability to operate efficiently without fully relying on the use of their magic. If you are able to help, meet at the palace in the Capitol. Crocus needs you.

Thank you,  
Princess Hisui E Fiore

Reward: 2,000,000 

This job sounded perfect! Lucy loved detective work, and over time, she had learned not to rely too heavily on her magic. When Minerva beat her in the Naval Battle of the Grand Magic Games, Lucy had never felt more helpless. When she got back, she secretly enlisted in self defense classes, and slowly learned how to fend for herself without magic. And, she had even continued her self defense as well as her magical training during the year of Fairy Tail's disbandment. She was a lot stronger than when she had first joined. She could do this job!

Natsu ripped the paper from her hand. "Awesome!! When do we leave!?"

"What? We don't, I do. I said I was looking for a job, I was going to do it alone..."

Natsu burst into laughter. "Oh c'mon, Luce! That's great, you couldn't do a job on your own!" He continued his laughing fit, Lucy just grabbed the paper back from Natsu.

She couldn't begin to count how many times she had heard 'You're just a Celestial Spirit Mage' or 'You're support.' The comments upset her deeply, she loved her magic, and even though others didn't hold it in high regard, she did. She had trained extensively, even going as far as developing her signature power 'Star Dress' which befitted her with the 12 different powers of the Zodiac. And yes, 12. In addition to training her magic, she had also finally united the Zodiac. Yukino had constantly insisted on Lucy owning Pisces and Libra, that she was fine with her numerous Silver Keys and one Black Key. Lucy continuously refused, however Yukino threatened to forcefully break her contracts if Lucy didn't take them over, and in order to save Yukino, Pisces, and Libra heartache, she accepted them into her collection. As for Aquarius, well, Lucy realized she could just hire a Arc of Time Mage to restore Aquarius' key to its' original condition. A sneaky way to get around a Recompense Summoning. After she had created and distributed hundreds of flyers for all the guilds around Fiore, her first job request, an Arc of Time Mage finally accepted it. A hefty fee later, not only Aquarius was bright an shining, but all 12 looked brand new and polished, no longer ancient, scratched, nor battle worn. She kept the contact information of the Mage in case she ever needed his services again. Lucy thought she had come a long way. 

However, there was Natsu, still laughing, belittling her skill without even realizing he was hurting her feelings. When he had said that she felt a sharp sting of hurt, and a wave of sadness, especially, though, since the comment came from Natsu. Over time Lucy had began to see Natsu in a not-so-platonic way. Maybe it was because of all the times they had held each other after battle, maybe it was all the times he had saved her, or maybe it was all the times they had cuddled up when one was upset or even just lonely. But for whatever reason Lucy had fallen hard for the obliviously insensitive Dragon Slayer, who stood in front of her. She loved him, however, She knew it was never going to happen between them. She had thought Natsu was gay for a while. When she first developed feelings, Lucy became overly flirty towards the fire mage, who seemed to ignore it...and then continue to start a wrestling match with a near naked Gray, and the pink hair? Come on. But, then Lucy thought he was asexual, and that probably fit him more, Natsu really never showed any interest in anyone. But over time, Lucy just suspected Natsu probably didn't even know what a girl was, he usually behaved like a 5 year old anyway, if he did know what a girl was, he probably thought they were wrought with cooties. Lucy was currently thinking he would probably end up with Lissana anyway. The choice would probably be between herself and the Takeover Mage, but Lucy never did have much luck. He mother died, her father became a jerk, she lost everything, and she was 20 without ever even having her first kiss. Why would the outcome of who Natsu chose be any different? And besides, Lisanna had a slightly romantic past with him and was sweeter, prettier, and more feminine than Lucy, Lucy felt she couldn't compare. She looked at Natsu. God, even when he was inadvertently hurting her feelings, all she wanted to do was push her lips agains his.

"Whatever, Natsu." She said angrily, turning around to both hide the blush spreading across her cheeks and as well as to give Mira the flyer.

Natsu stopped laughing when Happy elbowed him. Natsu cleared his throat. "If this is about the money, you can have it all, I just like going on missions with you, you're good support." There was another comment.

"No, Natsu." She started sternly. "It is about the money, I need it for my grand rent plan and near every time we have gone together we get nothing. It's always either cheated its way out of our hand, been refused by you, Erza, or Gray, or you've impishly caused enough destruction to wrack up a bill that puts us in debt. Happy, you don't break things, you can come if you want, you only get 25% though." She said sweetly.

"50!" Happy countered playfully

"30, and I'll buy you a ton of fish!"

Happy started drooling "Keep the money, just get me some tasty fish!" 

Lucy giggled with happy as they walked to the counter Mita was at "Deal, cat!"

Natsu ran up to Lucy and pleaded "Luuuuucccyyy. C'mon!! What if I'm on my best behavior!? The flyer said I would have my magic half the time anyway!!"

"The flyer also said they needed someone who can think things trough and could be effective without their magic, could you do those?" She inquired seriously.

"If it means spending time with you I can try my hardest!" Lucy Blushed, she knew couldn't say no to the guy that held her heart, the guy who was currently pouting with puppy eyes.

"....fine." Lucy said "But please, behave, I really want this money." They arrived at the counter and Natsu pulled Lucy into a fierce hug, crushing the air out of her lungs.

"Thanks, Luce, I won't disappoint you."

Lucy returned the hug, enjoying the warm firm body Natsu offered, her fingers subtly feeling the tight muscles in her crush's back. Her eyes began to feel heavy as she truly took in the feeling.

"Ahem." 

Natsu pulled away, and Lucy's eyes burst open to see a blushing Mira. "Hey.." Lucy got out meekly.

"Hi Lucy," Mira's blush didn't disappear, no doubt she had saw the emotions written across Lucy's face in the few seconds the hug lasted, "did you find a job?" She finished in her usual sweet voice.

"I...uh.. Yea! I did, is it still available?"

Mira took the paper offered to her. "Magical Anomaly? It should still be open, let me go log it. Have a great trip guys!" 

"Thanks Mira!" Happy, Natsu, and Lucy said in unison before they sprinted out the guild.

Mira watched them run out with their usual energy. "Oh, Lucy, I hope he returns those feelings of yours soon." 

"What was that sis?" An approaching Lisanna asked.

"Oh nothing. Just thinking out loud."

\--------------------------------------------------

Somewhere across the continent four hooded figures were gazing into a crystal ball. 

"What about him?" The first hooded figure spoke with a male voice. The image on the screen flickered to a man in his 20's with green hair. "He has shield magic."

"But his heart isn't in the right place." The fourth hooded figure spoke up, also a male.

"How can you tell?" The second voice chipped, a female this time.

"Haven't you learned by now, my vibes are never wrong. I'm the best read we have." The fourth replied

"...true." The second conceded 

"Next." The third voice resounded, another female. This time the image flickered to a pretty blonde girl laughing with a cat and a pink haired boy. 

"Her?" The first asked again. "A Celestial Spirit Mage, she's strong, but she's no where close to her potential."

Four looked closely, he liked what he saw, a lot, but he wasn't about to admit his sudden infatuation. "I like her..."

"Finally!" Two stated

"Good" three said, "so she's the one we will go after?"

They all agreed.

"Thorin," two started, "you should be the one to recruit her, you're the one with the impeccable read on people, after all." 

"Lucy Heartfilia," the man called Thorin smiled, "welcome to Suberashi."


	2. Family and its Gifts

"Crocus is a three hour ride by train or a two day walk, the decision is obvious Natsu..."

"But you know how I get on trains!!" The struggling pyromaniac countered as they arrived in Lucy's apartment, set on getting supplies before they headed out.

"Natsu," Lucy sighed as she pulled a map into her small leather purse, "I already told you I wanted to do this alone, if you're so against the train then just stay home."

"Lucy!!!" Natsu started to argue again, but stopped himself when he realized she was right. He had already interjected himself into the mission, and that was contingent on the fact he behaved himself, which he currently wasn't doing. "Okay, we can take the train, sorry for arguing."

Surprised at the sudden change of attitude, she finished stuffing her purse before she turned her gaze to Natsu, alarmed at what she saw. Natsu looked defeated. His head was glancing downward towards his feet, which were shuffling about each other unevenly. Looking at his unusually pitiful state she realized he must have felt like he disappointed her. She went to comfort him. "Natsu...I'm s..."

"Lucy!!??" Happy interrupted, flying through the archway that connected her living room and bedroom, a large present in his hand.

"What is it, Happy?" She inquired, eying the gift her blue friend was hugging.

"I found a hole bunch of presents in the closet! What are they for, Lucy?!" 

"Oh," Lucy said as the took the present from her hands arms, noticing the curious look on both Happy's and now Natsu's faces, "these were gifts from my dad..." Lucy remembered returning from her 7 year stasis only to find her 5,000,000+ rent paid in full as well as an apartment full of gifts for every birthday her father couldn't see her. It was heartbreaking, knowing that the man she had spent a large part of her life resenting, had in fact changed for the better, and she wasn't there to witness it. Originally, she had been too sad to even look at the presents, let alone open them. But now... "Happy? Why don't you go get the others? We can open them together before we go!" She beamed excited, finally ready to open the numerous gifts.

"Aye sir!"

"Not a sir." Lucy responded immediately, shaking her head.

As Happy flew back through the archway, Natsu spoke up. "Why didn't you open them when we got back from Tenrou?" His eyes searched hers for an answer.

"I was just too sad at first, then, honestly, I forgot about them until now." She giggled as happy came back with two more presents.

"Here!" Happy placed down the two before he flew back for another round.

"Well I'm glad your finally opening them!! You deserve more presents in your life!" Natsu beamed.

His smile was infectious, and Lucy soon found herself mimicking the gesture, and once again wondering what it would be like to kiss him. Would it be so bad if she did? He was a healthy guy, he most likely had a normal, functioning libido, he probably wouldn't object. But what if he did? She would feel crushed, rejected, and likely depressed for a while. That risk frightened her too much. And so she never tried anything, for fear of romantic failure at it's very start.

"Earth to Lucy!!" Natsu was suddenly inches away from her, waving his hand in her face. "Where'd you go? Happy brought the last of the presents."

Lucy realized she must have been lost in her thoughts far longer than she had thought.

"Sorry, just thinking about my dad." She lied before counting the presents, 7, one for each year of her absence, like she thought. "Why don't you each pick two and open them? I'll open the rest!"

"Awesome! Thanks Luce! I love opening gifts!" Natsu yelled overjoyed

"I hope this one is fish!" Happy shook one of the boxes.

"I'll open these ones!" Lucy eyed a blue, red, and green package, each topped with a beautiful bow.

"Aye!" Natsu and Happy replied eagerly grabbing the two they each wanted to open.

\--------------------------------------------------

The carcasses of six presents littered the floor, and the contents previously housed within them had made Lucy one happy girl! When she opened her first two gifts she was elated to find a red and gold designer dress in the first box and a gold charm bracelet in the second. The dress was apparently made from fabrics found only in the celestial spirit world. The dress was sleeveless, slim fitting, and slightly frayed at the bottom, gold trim littered the collar and the fray in addition to a few threads coursing their way through the red. It was a piece Lucy found beautiful. And although it looked like it should only be worn for high class events, it had the ability to repair itself, making it useful for a combat situation, if need arise. The charm bracelet matched the dress, being solid gold. It had 12 charms, evenly distributed, each charm was a small, dime-sized coin and each sported a different symbol of the zodiac. Not only was it beautiful, but it was thoughtful. 

Natsu's wrappings were ripped to shreds, as he impetuously destroyed the packaging in order to get to the middle. The first present Natsu opened was a large box consisting of the rarest and tastiest chocolates from different stores across Fiore, Natsu had already eaten half of the tasty treats, and while they looked beautiful, Lucy didn't mind, they had probably expired anyway. She would have told Natsu about the expiration, but he would likely be throwing up on the train anyway, no harm done by keeping silent. The second present violently opened housed a beautifully bottled perfume, one that smelled so nice it would get the lecherous Ichiya off Ezra's back for a while. The presume had hints of lavender, basil, and a large amount of scents that had been aged for a century, or so the bottle said. When Natsu took a whiff, he shoved the bottle at Lucy and told her she shouldn't wear it. Ouch. 

Happy had opened his two presents. The first started as a large rectangular, heavy, hefty package, which upon opening, turned out to be a first edition of Urano Metria Star Atlas written by Jonathan Bayer. This was the first book that detailed all the current constellations in the night sky. As Lucy loved both astronomy and reading, this was also a perfect gift. Once again showing the care her father took to choose what he gave her. The next present happy opened was another piece of jewelry, a gold band that matched the dress and the charm bracelet, Lucy thought all three would look fantastic together. The gold band was around an inch thick that ended with two almost connecting detailed spirals at the underside of the wrist. 

There was only one gift left to open. And that's exactly what Lucy intended to do. Pulling the ribbon off and tearing through the paper, she was greeted with a shellacked mahogany case. Lucy pulled it to her lap with curiosity before she undid the metal latch and raised the lid. She gasped. Inside were three silver keys! "Whoa..." Lucy exclaimed examining each key. The first had a wine glass shaped face, a long narrow neck topped with a mug handle-like cut at the top. The second key was shaped like a medieval french crown at the top, the same narrow neck with a crown shaped cut at the end. The last key had a carriage shape at the top, a similar neck, with a wheel shaped cut at the end. 

Lucy reached for her hip and pulled out one of her older keys. "Open, gate of the cross! Crux!" She was greeted by the familiar floating curmudgeon, who was currently sleeping. 

"Wake up, old man!" Natsu yelled, Lucy laughed and Crux woke with a startle.

"How may I help you, Miss Lucy?"

"I just got these keys, but I have no idea what their names are... I kind of need those in order to summon them for the first time."

"Ah, let me see." She held the keys up for him one by one. She held out the cup shaped one. "Gate of the Cup, Crater." Crux replied easily. She held up the next one, the one shaped like a crown. "Gate of the Crown, Corona." And then Lucy held up the last one. "Gate of the Charioteer, Auriga." He finished. "Is that all miss?"

"Yes, Crux, thank you!" Crux disappeared in a day of sparkling light.

Lucy turned towards Natsu and Happy. "Wanna see me make some contracts?"

"Sure." Natsu replied lazily, remembering himself not being too excited when she had contracted Plue. The only reason he agreed to watching her contract these three was to procrastinate the train.

"Alright.." Lucy wasn't happy with his lack of enthusiasm, but she knew it wasn't a magic he revered to begin with, she pushed the thoughts out of her head. "Open, gate of the Cup! Crater!" 

'Ding Dong!' The signature sound resounded before a figure appeared, shocking all three mages at what they saw. In front of them stood a one foot tall, stout cup, he had a face just below the rim of the glass and had arms just where the bowl met the stem. 

"Hello!" The cup said eagerly with a bouncy voice, "My name is Crater! It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy!!"

Lucy smiled brightly, "It's awesome to meet you too! Can we set up a contract?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, what times work for you?" She asked, slowly setting up a trust between them.

"Anytime you want, really... Things have been pretty slow, with the lack of Celestial Spirit Mages around." He said somberly. "But now you have my key, all the Zodiacs trust you, not to mention the King, and there are a lot of Craters, like your nikora, my attention isn't divided like Lyra's, so you have my support!" His voice resumed his happy tone.

"Thank you! Um..can I ask what you do?" Lucy said carefully, not wanting to offend her new friend.

"Yes you may." The cup said, the cup said, thinking he answered her question, he was kind of an air head.

"And...?" 

"And what?"

"What's you're power, silly?" 

"Oh!" Crater gasped. "I have Booster Support Magic. Summon me, drink from my head and you'll be surprised what happens. Your wounds will slowly heal, your magic will get a temporary power boost and spells should cost less magic for a while! I hope it sounds useful."

"Are you kidding me! That sounds amazing! You're going to be a great friend to have! I have to make two more contracts, but I'll definitely be calling on you soon! It was great meeting you!"

"You too, Lucy!" He disappeared with a glow.

Lucy turned to Natsu, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Eh. Guess not." Natsu replied, just happy to not be on a train.

"I thought he was really cool, Lucy!" Happy interjected.

Thanks, Happy! Wanna pick the next one? Corona or Auriga?"

"Corona!" Happy responded eagerly.

"Alright. Open, gate of the Crown! Corona!" Lucy shouted as she waived the key in front of her. Another ding sounded and the new figure appeared, equally as comical as the first.

"M'lady." The figure greeted. It was literally a red and white striped puffy crown with a face and arms to the side. Lucy remembered seeing him during her visit to the Celestial Spirit World.

"Nice to see you again! Can we set up a contract?"

"Yes, M'lady, like most your other spirits I'm available any time you call." Lucy couldn't believe her luck! Owning all 12 Zodiacs had its benefits.

"That's great, I look forward to it, what's your power, by the way?"

"I have Recharge Magic." The crown started, "All Celestial Spirits actually have unlimited magic potential, our power is based equal to the power of the Mage that summons us. If you summon me, I am able to recharge someone's magic power, whether it be yours or a friends. They will gain as much magic power as you when you're fully charged!"

"That sounds.."

"Useful!" Natsu finished for Lucy

"I'll be calling on you in no time! That's Corona!" He disappeared like the others. 

"One more." Lucy stated as she waived the final key in front of her. "Open, gate of the Charioteer! Auriga!"

This time a tall good looking blonde man appeared. "Nice to meet you, my name is Erichthonius. I'm available any time, as of now. There is only one of me, but many keys, like Lyra. Our contract may change if another CSM pops up. Also my magic allows me to summon a carriage similar to what you call a 'magic four wheeler.' It's a god way of transportation, if I do say so myself."

"Well you like to be prompt don't you, answering all my questions before even asked." She giggled before a thought crossed her mind. "Actually, could we use your services now? We have to get to Crocus?"

"Absolutely, Mistress. Legs head outside, wouldn't want to summon the car in here, lest your apartment be damaged."

"Awesome! Thank you so much!"

"Thanks, Erik!" Happy yelled

"Ugh." Natsu sighed.

They all left the apartment to start their adventure.

\--------------------------------------------------

"Leaving already? Someone is eager to recruit that girl." The familiar female voice currently known as two said happily.

"Yup, she's apparently taken a job set somewhere near Crocus. It'd be perfect to meet her there." He responded.

Introduction Alert!:

Name: Thorin Tekel  
Suberashi Member: Position Four  
Magic: PpSIA

"Well, good luck! She looks like a good candidate." Two replied

Introduction Alert!:

Name: Orenda Keynote  
Suberashi Member: Position Two  
Magic: Rift 

"Orenda?" Thorin questioned.

She hummed in acknowledgement.

"Send me to Crocus?"

With those words Orenda placed her two hands in front of her, like she was parting a curtain. Magic swirled around the room before she tore her hands apart. The creaking of a door was heard and a magic gateway appeared. The gateway, itself, simply looked like they were looking at a picture of Crocus from the streets. Thorin stepped inside before turning around, muttering a quick thanks. He then turned on his heel as he further prepared to find Lucy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, the introduction is taking a while to finish as I prefer shorter chapters I can write up faster. The story will pick up soon, I promise! Thanks to those who commented and left kudos, you guys make me want to finish the next chapter ASAP.


	3. The Outskirts

The normal three hour trip to Crocus was nearly completed by two. Lucy's new Spirit, Auriga, was a great asset to team Natsu for multiple reasons. One, so long as he was available, Lucy could summon instant transportation. When he summoned his vehicle, it contained transformation magic and could suit any shape or size Lucy asked for. Two, Ericthonius was the epitome of prompt, he insisted on going as fast as possible, which arrived them in Crocus a full hour early. Three, Natsu didn't seem to get sick while riding, it, to him, it felt the same as when Happy carried him. However, despite that benefit, Natsu grew ill half way through the ride due to the expired chocolates he ate a short while ago.

After a particularly violent upheaval of his stomach contents, Natsu pulled his head back into the carriage and slumped into his seat. Noticing his now olive, sickly face Lucy spoke up. "I'm so sorry, Natsu! I knew those chocolates were faulty, but I just assumed you would be sick from the ride here anyway..."

"Don't sweat it Luce, you were just using that logic of yours. At least I'm able to stay coherent this time! Oh god..." Natsu finished as he felt a wave of nausea come over him, causing him to hold his hands to his mouth in order to hold in its contents.

Lucy suddenly remembered something! She reached towards her hips and grabbed the cup shaped key, remembering its power.

"What are you doing, Lucy?" Happy questioned with his usual energetic tone.

"Crater said he could slowly heal injuries, maybe he can slowly revert sickness too? Anyways it's worth a shot to find out." Lucy waved the key in front of her. "Open, gate of the Cup! Crater!" A golden light spiraled down the handle shape at the tip before it expanded outward forming a small magic seal. A resounding bell chimed off in the distance, the signature summoning sound, and the small cup materialized in the center of the carriage.

"That was fast! What can I do for you?!" Crater asked.

"You said your magic could slowly heal injuries," Lucy stated, "can it also heal that?" She asked pointing towards a green and ailing Natsu.

Crater hopped and did a 180 before landing, with a lack of legs that was how he changed his position. Crater studied Natsu for a second before hopping another 180 back towards Lucy. "Sorry I wasn't clearer earlier! I can cure him, most maladies should also be reverted, nothing terminal, but food poisoning should be easy enough! Natsu!" Crater got Natsu's attention as he did another 180, now facing Natsu again. Crater held out his arms like wanted to be hugged. "Drink me! Whoa whoa what?" He cried as Lucy unexpectedly picked him up from the back.

"Here Natsu." She said gently as the brought Crater to his lips. The whole moment seemed oddly intimate to Lucy. Lucy and Natsu made intense eye contact while she tilted the cup upwards, hoping her crush would be cured. Natsu could feel Lucy's intense stare burning into him while the cool liquid slid down his throat. It didn't take long to finish the contents, but Natsu continued to hold Lucy's gaze. Lucy was too far lost looking into his eyes that she didn't even realize Natsu had grabbed her hand in order to remove the lip of the cup from his own mouth. 

"I'm, uh, I'm done." Natsu blushed and averted their eye contact while still holding the back of Lucy's hand, which was holding Crater. 

"I, uh... I..." Lucy pulled away from Natsu and slumped back in her seat. "How are you feeling?" 

"A lot better, actually. Thanks Cup."

"Ya, thank you, Crater. You can go."

"Call when you need me!" Crater yelled before he faded away. Lucy couldn't believe she had allowed herself to get so lost by just looking into his eyes. She was just lucky that, somehow, Happy had drifted into slumber almost right after she summoned Crater, or else Lucy would most likely be hearing something along the lines of: 'oooh, she liiiiiikes hiiim!' Maybe now would be a good time to tell Natsu how she felt, to come clean. After all, he pulled her hand away from his face, but he didn't let go! Maybe that was a sign.

With a deep breath breath she started. "Natsu, I..." 

That was all she got out before Auriga yelled. "Mistress! Something is..." He too was cut off as a massive shock wave struck the vehicle. Both Erichthonius and his carriage instantly disappeared and Natsu, Lucy, and Happy went flying forward with the previous momentum the car held. All three crashed into the ground at the same time and tumbled for a couple meters before skidding to a stop. Natsu stood up first, the effects of crater causing him to suffer almost no damage, he quickly felt that magic disappear.

"Lucy! Happy!" Are you all right!?"

"Ow, why would you wake me up that way?" Happy asked with a sad voice.

"Ugh, that hurts." Lucy, who landed on her stomach, propped herself up with her forearms.

"It's a good thing your boobs are so big, Lucy, you had an airbag..or airbags." Happy added in his signature 'oblivious to the insulting thing I just said' tone.

"Okay, Cat, for the last time, they're only C's!!"

Natsu scoffed "Ha. Only." Implying the size to still be on the larger end. "What happened?" 

"That must have been the 'fluctuation' the flyer told us about. I can't feel my magic." She stated as she held her hand over her keys. "That must be what forced Erichthonius to disappear. You two?" She inquired.

"I can't feel mine, it disappeared!" Happy affirmed.

"Me either, and I felt Crater's magic inside me die down really fast too. And it didn't feel like it disappeared... It felt like it was drained from me, pulled from me. It felt...familiar?" Natsu added.

Lucy eyed him with suspicion, the feeling he described fit what she felt as well. "Well," Lucy started, her gaze drifting towards Crocus and it's Palace, which, without Auriga seemed incredibly distant, "it'll take a little longer to reach the Castle, now. But we need to hurry! I can't believe the people of Crocus have had to deal with this! It's horrible." 

"Aye, sir!" Happy yelled.

"Yea, let's go save Crocus!!" Natsu yelled. 

\--------------------------------------------------

As soon as Thorin turned to search for Lucy, he heard a loud rumble. Squinting his eyes, he spotted a menacing blue aura rapidly approaching. From her portal, Orenda spotted it too and decided to watch how Thorin handled the new threat, she always liked seeing his magic, it was interesting. Thorin raised his hand. Nothing happened. Instead the aura passed him and continued on its blast radius. Some of the aura went through Orenda's portal, and the moment it touched her, her portal shattered. 

"Orenda!" Thorin shouted, running to spot his friend was previously, he sighed. Even though it looked like she was 15 feet away, she was actually a hundred or so miles distanced. He had no way to check up on her. Searching inside himself, he found his magic power greatly dwarfed, not completely gone however. He deduced Orenda also had a drastic change of magic power, and that's what caused her portal to shatter, if she closed it herself it would have looked differently. Hm. He thought to himself. There wasn't any ethernano in the environment, well there was, but it felt liked it was being sucked in a certain direction. He wouldn't be able to recharge his magic power so long as he was in this area of drainage, he would have to save it for when he needed it. He set off in the direction he felt the magic energy being pulled.

"Sorry, Lucy." He thought aloud, "I'll have to deal with this first before I find you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! As long as you keep doing that, I'm happy to keep updating!


	4. Pulse

Since they started their trek on the outskirts of town, it had taken Lucy, Happy, and Natsu almost two hours to reach the palace by foot. However, despite the extra hours spent walking towards the center of the city, it was not without its perks. Crocus was currently celebrating the start of it's Spring Festival. The 'Flower Capitol' definitely held up to its name with the numerous blooms awakening for the first time in a year. Plump peonies graced almost every windowsill while differing colors of crepe myrtles shaded the roads. Jovial violins constantly sung, gracefully filling everyone's heads with infectious music. This festive state would last until the end of spring, when the Grand Magic Games would once again make it's yearly appearance. By looking at the joy plastered on everyone's face, it was hard to believe this was a city currently bereft of magic. On the walk, Lucy dropped hints left and right about how romantic it all was, even grabbing onto Natsu's arm when they traversed a particularly crowded street. But all the brilliance of the flowers and music came to a halt as the trio approached the palace doors. Two guards crossed their spears denying them entrance.

"State your business." The one on the right said, a tall, lean man with large brown eyes dictated.

"We're Mages of Fairy Tail, we've accepted Princess Hisui's job request." Lucy put it bluntly. "Now are you going to let us in, or continue to stand there like idiots?" There was the signature Lucy.

"Show us your guild marks and you can enter." Lucy brought her right hard in front of her while Natsu turned to the left. "Very well, you may enter." They pulled their spears back.

"What about me!?" Happy cried, "I'm a Mage of Fairy Tail too!"

"Oh, uh, we didn't see you there...okay show us your mark then?" The guard said which prompted happy to proudly turn around and display his mark. The guard simply nodded before pushing the door open. "Head to the end of this hall and look for a guard on the right, he will alert the princess of your arrival."

"Thank you!" Lucy beamed before they set off walking again.

As they neared the end of the hall, another door became larger and larger. And that's when they spotted the guard they had to talk to.

"Excuse me, the guard down there said to.....um." Lucy eyed the guard, who was lean, tall, and had big brown eyes.

"Hey! You're the same guy that let us in here!!" Natsu yelled, giving the guy a once-over.

"Oh, you must have met my brother." The guard said

"You have the same scar under your eye!" Happy pointed at the man.

"You accepted the princesses request? I'll summon her for you." He brushed off the exceed. "Wait here for my return."

He walked through the door, leaving Natsu, Lucy, and Happy with nothing to do but wait for the guard to reach his destination, return, and then wait for the Princess. 

"This is ridiculous!" Lucy cried after a half hour. "Hisui is a friend and a fellow Celestial Spirit Mage. I should be allowed to just find her myself!" As she finished her rant the guard returned through the wooden door. 

"The Princess will see you now. Just go through this door." He states flatly.

The trio one again resumed their pace as they passed through the large oak door into a wide open room, the throne room. They spotted a girl resting on a simple throne with a guard to her left. It had to be Hisui, so that's where they headed. As they approached they noted it was in fact Hisui, and the guard to her left was a lean, tall man with large brown eyes and a small scar underneath one of them.

"Okay seriously!? What's going on!?" Happy yelled, utterly confused.

"Hello, Lucy, Natsu, Happy! It's so good to see all of you!" The Princess exclaimed. "What are you worried about, Happy?" 

"All three of those guards are the same person! The one at the front, the one before the palace room, and now him!" Natsu pointed accusingly at the guard to Hisui's left.

"Oh." Hisui started. "They're all part of a family, septuplets actually, there are four more that look like them around here somewhere. Sorry for the confusion, Happy!" Hisui apologized. 

"So, what can you tell us about the job?" Natsu put bluntly

"Natsu! She's a princess, show some respect!" Lucy reprimanded.

Hisui laughed. "Lucy! It's all right! I might be a princess, but we are friends first, aren't we?" 

"Yea!" Lucy smiled. "We are!" She affirmed.

"Good! But to answer your question, Natsu, I've had a full investigative team finding information on this strange occurrence, they're recent findings are nothing short of troublesome."

Natsu and Lucy looked towards each other, then back to Hisui, prompting her to continue.

"Actually, it's kind of fitting that it's us three." A 'ahem' from Happy caused her to correct herself. "Four, sorry. As I was saying, it's fitting it's us here discussing this as events that happened two years are what led to this. Apparently, the Eclipse Gate that you two, Lucy and Natsu, destroyed..." Hisui searched her words, "...well it wasn't completely destroyed."

Lucy subtly scooted closer to Natsu, to the point their shoulders were touching, their hands gently brushing. The horrific memories of everything 'Eclipse Project' flooded her mind. Her future death at the hands of a future Rogue. Dragons rampaging freely. Gray being executed by energy blast to the head.

"Apparently," the Princess went on, "the actual lock part survived. And because it was never locked and sealed with the Zodiac Keys, it has begun to run rampant, sucking away all the magic in a large radius."

"Just like the Grand Magic Games." Happy said in disbelief

"Only much more powerful." Lucy added. "Originally, it silently took only enough magic from the environment and from Mages so that it wasn't even noticeable, it was only really bad up close when the moment you used magic it would..."

"That's why it felt familiar!" Natsu cut Lucy off. "It felt like that time before, the first time the Eclipse Gate siphoned my power!"

"Exactly," Hisui started, "I sent out the job request on hopes someone would destroy the Eclipse Lock...let's call it Pulse from now on? But since you're here, Lucy, maybe we can now lock away that power, and hand it over for the Magic Council to do as they wish. With Etherion and Face decommissioned, they could probably find a use for something like this."

"That's a good idea!" Lucy agreed, knowing her friend Levy could put it to good, productive use. She wouldn't trust anyone else with it though. "We will go find it ASAP!"

"Wait!" Hisui stopped her eagerness. "Unfortunately, it won't be as easy as 'finding it.' I have more intel, and it gets slightly worse..."

This time Lucy pulled Natsu's hand into her own.

\--------------------------------------------------

"What the hell is this place?" Thorin wondered aloud as he approached the source of the mass power drain. "A Guild?"

It had taken Thorin a while to follow the flow of surrounding magical energy. It was a good thing he had high sensing skills that reached beyond first impressions of people. The trail had detoured him somewhere outside the city, in between the Capitol's walls and the neighboring mountains. He arrived in a small forest, dense with foliage and rocky terrain. Now, in front of Thorin, was a dilapidated Guild Hall, carved into the side of a large cliff. The guild looked old, vines crawling in a tangled mess across most of the front, partially hiding the large letters carved atop the door, most likely the guild name.

"Ogre Force?" Thorin questioned, reading the carved letters. "The drainage is definitely coming from in there."

He began to move out of his hiding place before something gold caught the corner of his eyes.

"Lucy Heartfilia, what on earth are you doing here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is finally picking up, at least I think so! Thanks for reading!


	5. Rewards and More Rewards

Once Hisui added the extra detail, Lucy looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean a Guild took it?"

"We weren't the only ones searching to find the cause of the influxes. There is apparently an independent Mercenary Guild that found it before us. When the Eclipse Gate imploded, a lot of parts were scattered around the Capitol, they just got to it first."

No one in the conversation liked this. A Merc Guild held an object that made Mages useless against them. How would they retrieve it? Not even Natsu could stand up to a fully trained Mercenary without his magic.

"What's the name of the guild?" Natsu asked 

"Intel has labeled it as Ogre Force, and while it may have been an independent guild, there haven't even been whispers of them up until now."

"And do you know where they are located?" Lucy added.

"That's what we don't know... They're somewhere in the forest between the edge of town and the Rocky Mountains to the north-east. At least we think so. I stopped sending people to retrieve intel when they stopped returning." Hisui finished solemnly.

"So, your soldiers, spies?, are all..." Happy asked curiously knowing the insinuation

"As of now they are marked as dead, it's sad, but we don't exactly know for sure. If handling this situation were within my means of capability, I wouldn't have sought outside help. I'm sorry to involve you, but you're the only hope we have."

"Hey, for 2,000,000 jewels! Don't apologize!."

"Actually..." Hisui started

"Oh no, don't tell me you can't pay it... We'd still help, obviously, but not getting paid seems to be commonplace these days." Lucy sighed, Hisui giggled.

"No, Lucy, actually the reward has increased to 10,000,000." 

"What!?" Natsu, Happy, and Lucy exclaimed in unison.

"That's five times the normal amount!" Lucy cried tears of joy.

"Ya and for that much, you're cutting Happy and myself in for half!" Natsu barked at her.

"Yea!" Happy added.

"Fine, I'd still make over double what I started on! Thank you Hisui!" 

"It's no trouble at all, I'm the one who should be thanking you for accepting the job, also, hold on a second." Hisui asked while she reached towards her hip, digging through a small pouch much like the one Lucy had. After a moment of shuffling though what were assumed as keys, Hisui pulled something out, and tossed it to Lucy, who eagerly caught it. Once the item was in Lucy's hand, she peeked at what she caught, it was yet another Celestial Spirit Key, or so the thought. It was a dark dark gray color, almost black, and it looked remarkable similar to the Dragon Chain Cannon Key that was back in Edolas, maybe this was its earth land counterpart. 

"Is this for deactivating Pulse?" Lucy held it up to the light.

"Haha, no! It's a Celestial Spirit Key." Hisui confirmed. "It's yours."

"But it's black... I've never seen that before." 

"Actually you have, Yukino's key, Ophiuchus, is a black key despite having some gold. There are 88 constellation keys, 12 are gold, 3 are black, 4 are platinum, and the rest are silver!" Hisui smiled while gifting Lucy with new knowledge.

"I know what the 12 Zodiacs are, clearly, but what are the black keys? Or platinum for that matter?" Lucy inquired.

"Well, the three Black Keys, according to myth, were three ancient and powerful monsters of legends. However, all three predicted the future destruction of their races and sought to live amongst the stars. An ancient guild, equally as powerful, wanted to help the monsters reach their dreams. The Guild's master, a Celestial Spirit Mage, preformed a spell which allowed them all to live eternally amongst the night sky, in the form of constellations. The only condition for their ascension was that they leave behind a piece of themselves, namely a Celestial Spirit Key, so that while they might now be eternal, they would always have to serve the future practitioners of Celestial Spirit Magic. Isn't it a beautiful story? As for the platinum, I have no idea, I've never seen them, only heard of them through grape vines."

"Ya, it is beautiful." Lucy couldn't take her eyes off of the key, it was mesmerizing. "So you said Ophiucus was a Black Key, not a Gold one, what type of monster is she?"

"A basilisk." Hisui answered.

"And this key?" Lucy held her breath in anticipation.

"A dragon, Draco."

"What?!" Lucy, Natsu, and Happy, hollered in tandem. Natsu spoke further. "There's another dragon besides Acnologia?!" He grabbed the key out of Lucy's hand. "Get your ass out here, Draco!!" He yelled, nothing happened.

Lucy, Hisui, and Happy couldn't contain their laughter. "Natsu, you can't open its gate, you don't know the magic, besides, it takes a lot of effort, that's one of the reasons I'm giving him to Lucy. He requires so much magic energy to be summoned, I can't even attempt open it's gate without blacking out, I'm hoping Lucy will have more luck!" 

"Hisui, I couldn't take this from you!" Lucy objected

"Nonsense, you will, or you're not getting paid." The Princess threatened. "Besides, even if I could summon him, Dragons are still a little taboo around crocus. How would people react if they found out I owned one? There would be an uproar! Please take him."

Lucy snatched the key back from Natsu before placing it in her key holster. "Thank you, Princess Hisui! I will try my hardest to summon him!"

"I have no doubt you can! Now, let's get you started on that mission! There is a horse drawn carriage outside that will take you to the edge of town, from there on out just sneak in and deactivate Pulse. The top lock pad is locked with Aquarius' key, don't spend time figuring out the rest. Locking just one of the 12 should stop it and return the flow of magic to normal, at that point, Natsu, go ahead and blow up as much as you like." She smiled.

"Will do!" Natsu yelled, excited at the prospect of his magic returning. 

"Thanks for everything, Hisui!" Lucy yelled as all three were already running out of the castle.

"Good luck, you three." She knew that trio would save Crocus a second time.

\--------------------------------------------------

Across the continent, Orenda Keynote solemnly stalked into a large open room which housed her fellow two teammates. Upon seeing her distressed look they questioned her mood.

"What's wrong?" The other female asked.

Introduction Alert:  
Name: Evangeline de Sanssouci  
Position: 3  
Magic: Hydrolics

"Well, I opened a gateway to Crocus, but almost immediately my magic was sapped away by something. Thorin's is probably gone too, I'm worried."

"He should be fine, that kid relies on more than just his magic." The last male member reassured.

Introduction Alert:  
Name: Es Allister  
Position: 1  
Magic: Polarity 

"He will be back in no time!" Es assured.

"I suppose you're right, and hopefully Lucy is with him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing short chapters in order to pop them out faster. The downside to this is I don't use a lot of detail or description, the story is mostly conversation based so far. Do you readers like this? Or should I change it up? The decision is TOTALLY up to you! I really only care about the plot haha. Just leave a comment about what you want to see, heck even leave plot suggestions, I'm open to all ideas. Thank you all!


	6. Mission: Start!

As the trio flew out of the castle, they found it was much easier to exit the palace than it was to enter. They weren't greeted by any look-alikes and no wait periods, just a simple strut outside and a salutation from the carriage driver that was supposed to bring them to the edge of town. 

"Hello," the driver greeted, "the Princess instructed me to bring you lot towards the edge of town." He said with a formal accent. "You ready to go?"

Lucy looked over the carriage. It was white with gold trim, befitting of the royal palace. In addition to the orient details of the carriage, it so happened it was also horse drawn by two snow white, what were assumed pure-bred, stallions. The driver, himself, was dressed in a uniform that seems to match the carts design. He wore a white split tail blazer that was tinted gold in the front, connected by gold laces, matching trousers, and his hair was black and slicked back, not a stand out of place. He looked just as on point as Auriga, or Erichthonius, whatever he went by.

Lucy turned her gaze to her left and over her shoulder, seeking to look into Natsu's eyes for subtle reassurance. What she saw upset her, that had been happening a lot recently, Natsu looked uneasy. "Sorry Natsu, transportation is the fastest way, and the people of this city need fast." 'Why was he behaving so strange?' Is what she wanted to ask. He was more reserved, quiet, laxidasical, everything Natsu wasn't supposed to be. It couldn't be he was just behaving himself because Lucy asked. And she only meant 'behave' in a 'don't blow stuff up' way. He had no magic, he could be his normal self and no harm would come to their surroundings. Something was weighing on him and she was going to figure out what.

"'s fine." Natsu mumbled.

"Come on! Up, Lucy!" Happy yelled as Lucy looked down towards him, realizing his arms were outstretched, wanting to be held. Recently, Happy and Lucy had started getting along superbly. They hung out more, talked to each other more, and Happy now even chose to spend the night with Lucy sometimes instead of Natsu. Most their insults had stopped, and if there were any, they were playful and more-so nostalgic than actually hurtful. If Natsu was Happy's father/older brother, then Lucy had definitely become his mother/older sister. She preferred the latter label.

"Sure thing, Tomcat." Lucy said in a Carla accent as she pulled happy into her arms. Together they boarded the horse drawn carriage before turning to Natsu. 

"You coming, Natsu?" Lucy asked while Happy got comfortable in her lap as she slowly rubbed circles in his blue fur.

Natsu didn't reply, he only sighed and heavily climbed the steps, plopping down across from Lucy. "Let's go!" He said as he spread his arms and legs as wide as possible before slouching as low as he could in the tan leather seat. Natsu closed his eyes and squinted his face in anticipation for the motion sickness that was sure to come. With a 'hya!', a thunderous crack of a whip, and loud neighing followed by the clapping of hooves against the pavement, the carriage took off.

Lucy and Happy waited in anticipation for the incoherent Natsu that was sure to emerge any time now. But, to their surprise he never showed up.

"Natsu," Lucy looked at him quizzically, "how are you feeling."

"Natsu's eyes drifted upwards in thought. "Hm, I'm not 100%, maybe 80%? I guess no magic power means almost no motion sickness." He shrugged calmly, uncharacteristically.

"Well that's great!" Lucy exclaimed. "Between this, Erich, and Crater, you'll probably never have to feel motion sickness again." Lucy started blushing. "As long as we are together, that is." She added, deepening her blush.

"You feeling alright, Luce? You're face is red." Thankfully he was oblivious.

"It's nothing," she looked towards her left at the pedestrians they passed, "just feeling a little flushed I guessed." She couldn't keep up this act much longer, sooner or later she knew she had to tell Natsu how she felt. It wasn't fair to either of them. It wasn't fair the pain she constantly felt, pulling at her heart, from not telling him. And it wasn't fair to him, for having to deal with a acting, slowly becoming, insane Lucy. Either sometime on this mission, or shortly thereafter, she was going to tell him. She could no longer pride herself on being courageous if she couldn't even tell Natsu how she felt. Between these thoughts, a few daydreams, and the beautiful, ever-present street music, time flew for Lucy, and only when a loud voice snatched her attention did she realize how much distance they had covered.

"We are almost there!" The driver hollered over his shoulder, "I would suggest readying yourselves for departure."

"Happy." Lucy gently nudged the sleeping cat. "Time to wake up."

With a yawn, Happy spoke, "Already? I was so comfy, you're really comfortable, Lucy."

"Aw, thank you, Happy." She said with a slight smile tugging at her lips.

"I mean it, you're going to make a really good girlfriend, I don't know anyone who wouldn't love your snuggles." Happy admitted causing Natsu to scoff. Was it jealousy, or something else, this was one of the reasons it had taken Lucy so long to admit how she felt. She was so afraid of the 'or something else.'

The trio dismounted and thanked the driver, who in turn told them he would be waiting upon their return. Before they left though, he gave them some information. 

"I might just be a Coachman, but I actually studied at the Magical Arts University of Fiore. I don't mean to step out of place by telling you this, but the magical fluctuations seem to happen every 4 hours, or whenever a powerful Mage enters it's radius for the first time, like you two, three sorry!" The way he apologized reminded Lucy of Aries.

"That information is useful, thank you."

"The last influx was three hours ago, the next one should be happening soon. I'd either hurry wait till after that to do anything. I wish you three luck."

"Thank you again!" Lucy turned towards Natsu, "What do you want to do? Hurry? Or wait?"

"Do you even have to ask at this point, Luce?" He grinned.

"You're right, let's hurry!" 

"Aye sir! Er, Mam!" Happy faltered. "Um, how do we know which way to go? Finding them might take an hour..." 

"I have the answer for that! I've been recharging my magic energy. I should finally have enough for this." Lucy pulled out two keys, one gold, another silver. Taking the gold one into her left hand, she placed it over her chest. "Star Dress!" Lucy glowed in a similar fashion to Ezra's requip. "Cancer Form!" The glow faded leaving Lucy dressed in a blue dress with white jeans, her hair now don't up in a fancy doo, scissors at her hips. 

"How could you do that?! A zodiac summon takes a lot of magic energy doesn't it? I thought you couldn't summon more than five of them a day." Natsu chided, she was shocked he actually paid attention to the limitations of her abilities, but then again that's probably all he saw, limitations. 

"Actually, when I summon I spend magic energy. When I summon then Star Dress I have a bit more magic then when I started. When I just directly Star Dress without summoning, my magic power nearly doubles." She said smugly, proud at how far she had come.

"Wow Lucy!!! You've gotten really strong!" Happy beamed.

"And I'm not done! Open, gate of the Compass! Pixys!" With a swing of her arm, silver key in hand, Lucy's cries were met the familiar penguin crowned with compass.

"Priiii!" The spirit cried.

"Nice to see you, Pixys, we are on a time limit, point me in the general direction of the guild 'Ogre Force.'" Lucy had trained a lot with Pixys. He was now able point in the general direction of whatever it was Lucy wanted him to find. 

The needle atop Pixys began to violently spin before it settled in place. 

"There we go! Come on boys! Thanks Pixys!" 

"Priiii." The spirit waved as it turned into golden light and faded away.

After a short run through the woods, they approached a rocky patch that ended with a large cliff densely covered in foliage. Natsu broke the silence.

"Dead end, we have to climb!"

"No, This has to be it!" Lucy argued, "the cliff I mean, I think it's coming from inside, somehow. Their base has to be carved into it. Let's look!"

"How the hell can you tell?" Natsu responded curtly.

"Now that I have magic energy, I can feel it being pulled, pulled towards this cliff, not up and above it! Just believe in me, for once!" Lucy snapped at Natsu, finally fed up of his pessimistic attitude towards her abilities. He looked shocked at her outburst, but said nothing. 

"I've got your back, Lucy!" Happy yelled, fully trusting his female friend. 

"Thanks! Now let's save Crocus." 

\--------------------------------------------------

"Thanks! Now let's save Crocus." Thorin overheard Lucy from his hiding spot behind some rocks a few meters away.

"That girl still has magic power even after being this close to the drain? Impressive." He didn't even question the large coincidence of running into the girl he was looking for. If he had payed attention at all he would have known that this was, in fact, the mission she took up. Thorin decided it was hers to finish, and that he would watch her, her first evaluation, so to speak. He would intervene if they needed him, however. He couldn't loose Lucy before he even officially met her.

"Well, Lucy Heartfilia, let's see how you do."


	7. Feelings and Plans

'Just believe in me for once!'

Those words resounded again and again Natsu's head. He did believe in her! Didn't he? However, despite her cries, he still chose to separate from his teammates. He was currently in the process of trying to convince himself that his split was in effort to cover more ground. He knew, though, In reality, sad to say, he was trying to distance himself from Lucy, he needed time to think.

She has been behaving differently around him as of late. Natsu was more observant than most people gave him credit for, and he had been noticing the changes within Lucy. He first became aware of the lingering stares. Often times, Natsu had felt eyes resting heavy on him, and upon inspection, he only found a suddenly nervous Lucy violently averting her gaze, cheeks tinted red. It wasn't just the cross room gazes Natsu caught on to, there were plenty of times that their eye contact had lasted unnecessarily longer than it should have. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable situation. 

Second was the contact. There had recently been so much extra contact between the two! Sure, they had always behaved on the border of platonic, with often accidentally seeing each other naked and the periodic cuddling. But that's all it was, right? Platonic. Natsu wasn't so sure anymore. Lucy would find any excuse to place her skin on his, whether it be 'accidental' brushes of shoulders, an excess amount of hugs, holding hands, or even the more recent closeness in their cuddling. When it came to their preliminary stages of cuddling, they mostly just slept on the same bed. Now, whether it be consciously or unconsciously, Lucy seemed to want to burry herself as far into Natsu as she could. At first, Natsu brushed it off as her being cold and him being a heat generator, that opinion has since changed.

Third was the smell. People tended to emit pheromones when they were around people they were infatuated with. This was how Natsu knew Lucy liked him. It was the icing on the confirmation cake. Whenever she came around him, her pheromones acted up, and he didn't necessarily hate the smell, in fact it was slightly arousing. 

Fourth was the teasing. He was used to teasing, it happened near every second in the guild. It was just a part being a member of Fairy Tail. Usually the teasing was about his magic, attitude, personality, intelligence, or something along those lines. Now, the teasing had shifted into jokes about him and Lucy, together. People would often mocking call her his 'girlfriend' and poke fun at their relationship, most of the insults insinuating they were secret lovers, or two people that have yet to admit they like each other, like Bisca and Alzac. Only Natsu didn't think they would ever admit feelings for each other. 

While it was clear she liked him, she was too timid, and Natsu wouldn't tell her. Well, Natsu couldn't tell her. He would be lying. A certain white haired take-over mage currently held his fondness. He felt things for Lisanna that he just didn't for Lucy, that was the only way to explain it. And he had no idea how he would tell Lucy he wasn't interested if she did ever build up the courage to tell him. He honestly hoped she never did. He hoped she would just move on. Gray, maybe? Loke? Heck, he thought Lucy and Sting would make a cute couple, if Dragon Slayers were her thing. Lucy was under the impression Sting had unreciprocated feelings towards Yukino, though, Natsu knew differently. Sting actually released pheromones when he was around two people, Lucy and Rogue. Sting apparently liked to play the field. Rogue was the one with an infatuation for the white haired celestial Mage, who in turn had unspoken feelings for Rogue. It was an odd variation of a love triangle. Maybe Natsu would try to set them all up on a double date when they finished the mission. He could put Mira on it, that would help Lucy get over him.

Natsu did feel bad for Lucy. He knew what it was like to have unreciprocated feelings, namely from Lisanna, although those weren't strictly unreciprocated, just complicated. When he first met Lucy, he did have a small crush on her which continued until the return of Lisanna. Then the feelings just seemed to wither away, not yet resurfacing. When Lisanna came back, he had friend zoned Lucy almost immediately, it was just easier that way. 

With all these thoughts running rampant in his mind, Natsu didn't realize how far he had walked. He had scaled the entire cliff and had walked a decent amount. His grand idea to go against Lucy's instinct had been in vain as he noted the drain on his energy was weakening, he was going getting further away from Pulse. He turned around, deciding to spend his last half hour before the next blast to help Lucy. He was wrong to abandon her, he was a horrible team mate for not trusting her nor believing in her. The whole reason he didn't want her to go on this mission alone was cause he doubted her skills. She was strong by herself, he could no longer deny that, he would have to work on openly believing in her. 

He only took a few steps before he heard an all too familiar scream. 'Definitely Lucy!' Natsu thought. It wasn't a second longer that all of Natsu's thoughts were wiped from his mind, with only one word ringing loud in his head.

'Protect.'

\--------------------------------------------------

'Do what you want, I'm going this way.' 

Natsu's parting words echoed through her head. 

"He's kind of a jackass, isn't he." Lucy asked aloud.

"Yea, he's pretty dense sometimes too." Happy affirmed before braving enough courage to ask his next question. "Lucy, you like him don't you?"

"Yea, of course I do, he's just very one track minded sometimes."

"No, I mean you liiiiikkkkeee him." Happy asked with his signature elongation of the verb.

Lucy stopped walking, blushing, before she looked at Happy, trying to figure out how to answer/lie to her blue friend for the thousandth time. Maybe telling Happy wouldn't be the worst thing. She could open up to him, the cat could actually keep a secret when needed, and maybe he could even offer her some inside information. She decided to tell him. 

"Yes," she drawled out "I do like him, Happy. I really, really like him." She felt a wave of unknown ease wash over her, telling her feline friend lifted a huge weight off of her shoulder.

"I knew it!! Although, I say people like each other like each other so much I have to eventually be right, right?"

"Right." Lucy nodded her head. "Please don't say anything, though. About how I feel..."

"Why not?!" 

"If I wanted him to know, I would have already told him, I'm too scared of rejection." The Celestial Spirit Mage admitted.

"Well what if I maybe asked Natsu how he maybe felt and then only maybe would tell you, that way you would never really know if I even asked, so you would never really feel rejected!"

"I don't fully follow... But do whatever you want I guess. Happy! Look!" Lucy exclaimed in a hushed yell, pointing to a large carving etched in the rocky wall that they should have noticed earlier.

"Ogre...Force!" Happy yelled, reading the letters.

"Hush, Happy!" Lucy scolded, slapping her hand over his mouth. "We have 45 minutes till the next massive magic drain, and I'm almost out of Cancer's energy, I'm going to have to Star Dress again soon to keep up my magic energy." Lucy noted.

"Do we have a plan, Lucy?"

"Um.." Lucy thought for a second. "Okay! Ill Star Dress Taurus, bust in there Natsu-style, and cause as much pandemonium as possible!"

"And what's the point of that?"

"Well, with all the commotion, I doubt they'll notice a certain small blue cat holding a Zodiac key..." Lucy smoothly cooed 

"You want me to sneak, like ninja?" Happy became elated by the thought

"Yup! Just like a fully trained ninja." 

"Natsu will be so jealous!" 

"Good." Was all she replied before she stood up. "Ready?" 

With a quick nod from her animal friend and a two key's in hand Lucy tossed one to Happy. "This is Aquarius, this should fit inside the top lock." Turning towards the Mercenary Guild, Lucy yelled "Star Dress! Taurus Form!"

It was time to end this, with or without Natsu.


	8. The Guild Master and The Dragon

The Mercs didn't know what hit them, literally. They were in the middle of important preparations for Pulse before, what felt like an earthquake, blasted open their entrance. The sudden rampage didn't stop there. Countless members were sent flying in multiple directions, instantly defeated by whatever threat they now faced. 

"You're all going to be sorry!" They heard a female voice cry out through all the dust and flying debris kicked up by her attack. "This'll teach you to mess with a Mage of Fairy Tail!"

Immediate conversations broke out amidst the remaining Ogre Force members.

'What? We're getting our asses kicked by a girl?'

'A girl is doing all this?'

'I bet she's cute!'

'She's a Mage! How on earthland does she still have magic power?'

'Boss said we would have to deal with Mages anymore!'

'Is the device broken?'

'I sure hope not!'

These were just a few of the comments Lucy overheard before she slammed her whip down, cracking the earth at impact and sending the lesser Mercenaries flying. Then everything became quiet. Too quiet. Lucy let the cloud of dust she caused to settle before actually taking in her surroundings. 

The room she busted into was simple. Despite the stone exterior, the interior was outfitted with light brown wooden floors, ceiling, and walls. There were a few support beams which she had taken out, and likely a decent amount of furniture too, based on all the debris she caused. Amongst the debris laid countless unconscious, bloody Ogre Force bodies, well Lucy hoped they were just unconscious bodies, and not yet corpses... Before she could take in any more information, Lucy heard loud footsteps slapping slowly against the wooden floor. Clapping soon joined in tandem with the footsteps before a voice spoke up.

"My, my. Well done, miss _____?" 

"What's my name matter to you!?" Lucy snapped.

"Hm, well I like to know the names of everyone I'm about to face in battle. My name is Reaver. I'd shake your hand, but I doubt our level of trust reaches that far. Now again, miss ____?" 

"Heartfilia. I wish I could say it's a pleasure." Lucy bit.

Reaver, or so he said, was a man of average height and lean build. He had exceptionally pale skin crowned with slicked back, jet black hair and matching eyes. He was around late twenties to early thirties and his lips were pink, which, to Lucy, seemed to add to his eerie, arrogant smile. He was dressed rather nicely, and between that and the proper way in which he spoke and carried himself, Lucy had no doubt he was a man of high society, a 'gentleman.' In Reaver's left hand, was a black cane, which he was currently leaning on, intent on showing a level of comfort around Lucy in order to make her subconsciously believe she was inferior. That he could relax because she offered him no harm. Lucy was about to make him regret that pose. 

"Ah, the last Heartfilia. Lucy, no doubt. I did so enjoy tales of your families escapades and business adventures, as well as their fall from grace, but that's besides the point." He looked directly into her eyes, black meeting blue before his whole demeanor shifted to that of anger, to that of rage. "Tell, me, Miss Heartfilia, Lucy, how a meager Celestial Spirit Mage is able to retain even a modicum of magical power?" He spat.

Lucy smirked at how she was currently making him feel, mad meant she was doing something right! "Trade secret, I'm afraid."

"Tsk, just like your Father." He scoffed before continuing. "The disappointments lying on the floor are nothing more than fodder, free labor for a superior plan. Prepare to face a true opponent: The Guild Master of Ogre Force!" He erected his stance before holding out his cane perpendicular to his body. With one hand positioned in the center of the cane, and the other atop the right side, he pulled, causing a hidden blade to unsheathe. "Now," he smiled, "Let's put an end to that family name." 

Lucy gulped. 'Happy, wherever you are, please hurry.'

\--------------------------------------------------

During all the commotion, Happy had snuck in exactly like a ninja. He grabbed ahold of Lucy's back while she was going Hulk and jumped off the moment he saw a hallway. 

"Here? Nope." Happy checked the first room and sighed.

"Here? Aw." Happy opened the second door.

"It has to be this one! Darn it!" He slammed the third door. 

Eight doors later and still nothing. Happy suddenly heard the loud banging from the main room come to a stop.

'Oh no! Lucy either beat everyone already, or she's in trouble! I've got to hurry!' Happy thought, hugging Aquarius' key even tighter. A few more doors and the constant ring of pounding resumed. 'She's okay!' Happy was relieved to hear his team mate on the offensive once again. He knew there was nothing to worry about, after all, she was a powerful Mage and they were just humans, right? 'Ive still got to hurry, though!' He reminded himself. 

With all the other doors checked, Happy finally came to the end of the dank corridor. 

"It has to be in here!" Happy said aloud. "It's the last room! I should have started here." He pushed open the door and what he saw stunned him.

The room was circular, large. Far larger than it looked like it should be. Most of the room was outfitted with metal and chrome while there was an enormous blue-tinted glass cage in the center of the room. While the screen was foggy, it was clear to see a large silhouette being contained behind the glass. That was one large weapon! Happy shifted to get closer. Stairs led up to the center of the cage, to where the silhouette was touching the glass. Happy climbed the stairs one by one before a circular panel with twelve key holes came into view. 

"This has to be it!" Happy exclaimed before holding out Aquarius' key. "Lucy said top so I'll I gotta do is..." He inserted the key and turned with all his strength. A large click soon signified he had succeeded. The air around him began to refill with ethernano and it felt like a great deal of pressure had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I did it! And my magic is already coming back! Lucy should have no trouble winning now." Happy turned around without a care in the world, he hopped down two steps before he heard an unusual sound. 

Growling? What was making that noise? Happy once again turned around, trekking back up the two steps to get a closer look at the silhouette. 

"It is this! Pulse is...growling? Aaaaaaahhhh!!" Happy screamed as the black silhouette suddenly opened two red eyes, twice as large as Happy. "What the...." Happy awed and was knocked down the stairs as the creature's arms slammed against the glass, pushing as if it's head was stuck. Happy still didn't have a good look at what was happening, or what for sure was in the cage but he knew it couldn't be good. 

With a low creak, splints in the glass formed around the large hands and the creature succeeded in retreating its head. Happy was paralyzed by fear. 

With a roar, the creature reared up and came down full force onto the glass. Happy flinched and covered his eyes, but a large boom told him the glass was no longer there, that it was shattered. He slowly opened his eyes and further couldn't believe what he saw...

"A...a dragon?" 

In front of happy stood a near full sized dragon. It had black colored metal skin and a lean almost skeletal body. It's eyes glowed menacingly in the dimly lit room, and the most fearsome thing about it, Pulse was imbedded in the center of its forehead. As Happy took this all thin the creature let out another roar and lunged, Happy narrowly dodging by suddenly growing wings. With all the speed he could muster, happy raced to the door he came from. Almost there! Fear told him the dragon was hot on his tail. Happy exited the room. A large thud indicated the creature was stuck in there, for now. 

"I have to get to Lucy!!!" He flew down the hall to go carry his friend towards safety.

\--------------------------------------------------

"Hm." Thorin looked down at his hands, still seated in his observing position behind the rock near the entrance to Ogre Force. "My magic seems to be returning. Lucy must have done it. But what's this new aura I sense? It's..." He couldn't find the words. His hazel eyes shifted worriedly to the destroyed entrance to Ogre Force.

"At least your magical aura is still okay. You'll be okay, I'll intervene if I have to, we aren't going to loose you before we have even had you, Lucy." 

He didn't know what this new threat was, but it certainly wasn't good.


	9. Introduction: Motherpulse

Lucy being Lucy went entirely on the offensive only a few seconds after Reaver's 'Heartfilia extinction' comment. She knew his position as guild master shouldn't be taken lightly. She had to give it her all. And with the continuous depletion of her magic, she hoped her all would be enough. Sending her whip forward, the fight began.

The Fleuve D'étoiles cracked through the air, smashing the ground where Reaver was, or used to be... Apparently he was fast. Before the crash of her whip's shock wave was even midway through, Reaver was upon her, his blade attempting a lick at her throat. Lucy managed to react in time by stepping back at the last second. However, Reaver's relenting attack didn't end there, instead that first slash was just the start of a flurry of them. 'Right, left, back, duck,' Lucy instructed her body to dodge the blade. Thank Mavis that Erza was adamant about training Lucy in combat involving swords, and thank Mavis further for having Reaver be no where near Erza's level. Lucy had this. 

Jumping back to put some distance between her and her melee oriented opponent. She pulled out a Golden Key, needing a refresh of magic energy. "Star Dress! Sagittarius Form!"  
Lucy, as well as her moo-moo style leather attire was briefly engulfed by a golden light before it changed to her jockey/archer style outfit. With an arrow in her right hand and her detailed gold and silver bow in the left, she prepped her attack while Reaver started to lunge towards her. She drew her bow, the star shaped tip of the arrow illuminating. "Star Shot!" She released the attack and a single arrow fired directly at Reaver. He dodged. 

With her attack evaded, Reaver lunged once again and slashed at Lucy, his sword intercepted by the hardness of her bow, both pressing against each other as hard as their owners could push.

"You missed, Miss Heartfilia!" He spat.

Lucy smiled "Did I?" With those words, the arrow that had apparently missed completely changed course. Star Shot never missed, after all. Lucy jumped to the right just as the magic arrow slammed itself into Reaver's back, causing a large explosion in its wake. Reaver was sent flying. That was easy enough.

"Ugh...." Reaver said and he attempted to get up, noticing he was separated from his blade. He had severely underestimated his opponent. The whole point of collecting the remand to of the Eclipse Gate was for this reason exactly. He still had a card up his sleeve.

"You're outmatched, Reaver." With these words, Lucy felt a pressure lifted from her body, her magic was coming back! Thanks Happy! An evil chuckle snapped her back to the situation at hand. "What are you laughing at, my magic is returning, Pulse is deactivated."

Reaver continued laughing, sauntering over to his cane. "Pulse? That's an interesting name, I think I'll use it, at least in part." He picked up the black rod and pressed a button hidden on its side. Whatever he was doing, Lucy thought, couldn't be good.

"What are you up to?!" Lucy demanded, holing her bow at the ready. "Answer me! If one arrow did that to you, how do you think you'll be able to handle 50?"

"Ah, well then, I suppose it's time to monologue." He started by pacing. "You see, there are many types of guilds around these days. Mercenary, like me. Mage, like you. Treasure. Dark. Merchant. Independent. You name it. However, when it comes to raw power, well you Mages seem to take the cake. With magic coursing through you veins, how do humans even hope to compete with you? Answer: we can't, not by ourselves anyways. You 10% hold more power in a pinky than most mercenary guilds hold throughout their ranks." A loud roar echoed throughout the entire guild and Lucy felt an immense amount of magic pressure before Reaver continued. "There is only one thing we can do that would make any difference." The roars and pounding continued.

"And that is?" Lucy asked as Happy suddenly blitzed into the room.

"Lucy! We need to go! Now!" She was surprised by her blue friends sudden urgency. "Lucy! Now!" He started tugging at her outfit.

"To answer you, Miss Heartfilia, the only way we can beat you, is to even the playing field." With his words the entire left side of the main room was destroyed in an explosion, throwing Happy and Lucy away from the wall. The only thing left standing was the thing Happy was running away from. As Lucy looked up her reaction was the same as Happy's. Paralyzation. Fear. How the hell was there a dragon!? She watched in awe as it stalked its way over to Reaver, looming over him. Obeying him.

"You see, Miss Heartfilia. With the Eclipse Gate functioning as a magical draining device, I knew I had to to have it. Rather than a way to the past, the gate would now function as a door to a new, better future for humans. If I could harness Eclipse's power, well, no Mage could stand against me."

"And the Dragon? How do you explain that!?" Happy yelled.

"The remnants of the Eclipse Gate weren't the only things left over from the Dragon King Festival. There were more than a few of Motherhlare's eggs left behind. They were dormant, inactive, to others, useless. Not to me, though, they contained the beasts genetic sequence, a sequence I could recreate. Combining that and the Pulse device you mentioned earlier, well..." He smiled and turned around before gesturing to the giant specimen behind him. 

"Lucy! Let me introduce you to the Mage's Bane, my greatest creation! Project XY: Magical Usurper: Motherpulse!"

"We won't let you get away with this! Star Shot!" Lucy yelled as she readied her bow and released the 50 seeking blast arrows she promised.

"Motherpulse?" Was Reaver's response. The dragon let out a low growl, the Pulse circle suddenly glowing, all 50 of Lucy's shots disappearing. 

"What the...? Happy didn't you turn it off?" 

"I thought I did, but it looks like he has control over it! Oh by the way, here!" Happy tossed Lucy Aquarius' key.

"Might as well use the strongest I have. Star Dress! Aquarius Form!" Her Sagittarius attire was replaces by a frilly miniskirt and zigzag bikini top. "Happy, get behind me! Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens." Lucy started the ancient incantation as a water shield subconsciously surrounded herself and Happy, allowing her to charge up the spell.

"I don't think so." Reaver interrupted. "Motherpulse, Dragon Roar, now!" Motherpulse reared up on its hind legs, sucking in a large amount of energy. While Natsu could eat fire, and Laxus could eat lightning, Motherpulse seemed to be able to suck the ethernano right out of the air, which caused both Lucy's Urano Metria and Water Shield to be completely nullified as well as causing Lucy's and Happy's magic level to hit zero.

All Lucy and Happy could do was stand there in fear. 

"This isn't good!"

"Lucy!" Happy threw himself into her arms, blurring his face in her chest for reassurance. "This is it, isn't it?" He cried into her chest.

"I...." Was all Lucy could get out before Motherpulse let out a single white concussive blast. With the last of their breath, Lucy and Happy screamed.

\--------------------------------------------------

Wherever she was, it was a strange place. There was absolutely nothing but endless rolling green hills, a cool breeze, and a vast turquoise sky. Well at least she thought it was a sky. Upon inspection, Lucy realized this whole place was underwater, but she was somehow breathing. What was this place? And where was Happy? A voice shook her from her thought.

"Hello, Lucy. It's nice to finally meet you." Lucy turned around, there, in front of her view was an incredibly handsome man, or so Lucy thought. He was roughly 6'2, broad shoulders, with olive skin, light brown medium length wavy hair and bright hazel eyes. He had large lips, a strong, but not overly jutted, jaw and an overall sharp look to him crowned with pearl white perfectly aligned teeth shown in his beaming smile. He was around Lucy's age and was dressed in fashionable cloths. Who was he?

"Who are you?" Lucy inquired, for whatever reason, despite being alone and in this strange place, she felt no threat from this man in front of her.

"My name is Thorin Tekel, and we need to talk."


	10. The Conversation

"My name is Thorin Tekel, and we need to talk."

Lucy eyed the man in front of her before a sudden thought dawned on her. "Ah, crap..."

Thorin's beaming smile instantly faltered the second he saw the distressed look in Lucy's eyes, "Whats wrong?" He asked comfortingly.

However upon hearing his words, uncontrollable tears began leaking down Lucy's eyes. "Surreal landscape, underwater breathing, angelic guy in front of me." Lucy continued sobbing, bringing her hands up to wipe fresh tears from her eyes. "I'm dead, aren't I?! This has to be heaven, right!?" She cried.

Thorin only began vigorously laughing, bringing his own arm up to cover the untamable chuckles that escaped his thick lips. Finally catching his own breath he spoke. "Dead?! Haha, no!! You're just dreaming!"

Lucy lifted her gaze towards Thorin. "Not dead? Dreaming?" She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and ended the crying fit with a sniffle.

"Well not really 'dreaming,' exactly, that's the easiest way to put it though. But, you're plenty alive, just unconscious."

"Oh, well then, now I feel embarrassed for my outburst." Lucy blushed at the situation.

"Don't worry about it." Thorin assured.

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two before Lucy spoke up again. "So, who are you again? Tho..Thorn?" Lucy stuttered at the foreign name.

"Thorin." He corrected.

"And you're my subconscious?" She inquired.

Thorin laughed again before lowering his body into a sitting position, Indian-style. "No, I'm not your subconscious, I'm a human, a Mage, like you. Sit." He gestured for Lucy to join him in his position, she complied. 

"So how are you here? In my dreams, I mean? Is that your magic?"

"Actually, it's more so an ability to be here, rather than an actual form of magic. And like I mentioned, this isn't a dream, it's a like-dream." The questioning look in Lucy's eyes told him to continue. "Basically this world is the landscape of your magical energy. Every Mage has one, and every Mage can visit their own, some can even visit others, like me!" He said smiling, proud at his ability. "There have been many names for this place. Some call it a Genesis, other dubbed it the Grand Magic World, I call this place a Magic Playground."

"So how come I've never heard of this?" Lucy asked.

"It's become a lost practice. It requires immense training of the mind. This place is a mage's ultimate form of meditation, to look so deep within oneself as so to visit this place so lucidly." Thorin looked around, admiring the beauty.

By this point, Lucy was genuinely intrigued by the mysterious man in front of her. This was one of the most fascinating conversations she had ever had. She continued her questions. "So how come I was able to enter mine? I've never meditated before."

"From personal experience, meditation is about fully relaxing, being at peace, at rest. Meditation isn't actually that far removed from being unconscious. You were out cold, and I just pulled you over." 

"And how can you visit other's Magic Playgrounds?" 

"Easy, I'm good at reading people. I can look into others as easily as I can look into myself." He smirked.

"That's quite the skill." She smiled. "And do all Magic Playgrounds look like this?"

"Nope." He put it simply. "Everyone's is different. The more magic you learn, the more it's filled, so to speak."

Lucy's eyed widened at that statement. "How could anyone fill this!?" Lucy stood up and swung her arms around her, gesturing to the vast terrain-aquatic openness of her Magic Playground. "It's enormous, it would have to take forever!!"

Thorin also stood, his face growing more serious, knowing the whole reason he was trying to find Lucy was about to be on the table. "Actually, that's part of why I'm here. The size of your Magic Playground is evenly proportional to your level of potential."

"My magic potential...it's this large?" If hers was this expansive she wondered what each of her friend's playgrounds looked like.

"Yes, it's one of the most vast Magic Playgrounds I've ever seen. It's why I had to find you."

In all honesty, throughout the entire conversation, Lucy never wondered once exactly why or what Thorin's reason for being here was. His presence seemed to out her at ease, there was no reason to question the reason for her whereabouts. However, with his words, something dawned on her. "What are you doing here, Thorin?" She turned to look at him. "You said you can see into people, I'm guessing you actually need to see them, though, to do that. You knew my name, and you said you needed to find me. Were you stalking me!?" Her impetuous conclusion jumped to its peak, skipping over all other possibilities.

"Yup." He said proudly, even though he wouldn't really call it stalking. Following, maybe.

"Well why?" She couldn't seem to get mad at his bluntness. 

"First, let me ask you a question." His features became serious again. "Lucy, what do you know about the guild called Suberashi?"

Suberashi? How come it sounded so familiar to her? She searched her mind. Suberashi. Suberashi. Suberashi. Suddenly the answer came to her. Her mother used to read her the story of the Suberashi, it was another childhood fable far eclipsed by the glory of 'Key of the Starry Nights.' She had completely forgotten about it till now, however she remembered the just of the story. 

Suberashi was the most powerful guild to ever exist. Each one of its five members held the powers of a god in their fingers. They were benevolent and kind, and it wasn't long before people relied on them to solve most their problems. At first, Suberahi helped, but then everyone became complacent, lazy. Suberashi knew the only way for people to grow on their own would be to disappear, and let people fend for themselves, so that's what they did. It secured them a place in legend.

"Suberashi," Lucy began recounting what facts she knew "an ancient guild straight from fairy tales. Powerful, each member could take on any other Mage, and together, they could shape the world. Right?"

"Wrong." Thorin stated. "We aren't just a fairy tale." He held up his left hand, showing a large S with its tail wrapping around, forming a near circle. 

"You can't be serious..." Lucy was skeptical at what she was hearing.

"All stories hold a grain of truth Lucy."

She looked at her foot, shuffling them idly in nervousness. "So what's that, Suberahi, have to do with me?"

"We want you to join." He sure was blunt, wasn't he.

Now it was Lucy's turn to break into a laughing storm. Thorin looked at her quizzically, wondering what was so funny. "Oh! I'm sorry! That's great!" She caught her breath. "Couple of things, though. First of all, like hell I'd leave Fairy Tail! They're my family! My nakama! And second. Why on earth would you want me to join?"

"You've seen your own potential, and so have we. And you wouldn't have to leave Fairy Tail. Not permanently anyway. The Suberahi is more so a culmination, a collection, of five Mages. It's kind of like the Wizard Saint's, they each belong to their own guild, but are part of a larger whole." He countered her argument. 

Well, the prospect of joining a super guild was enticing, especially if she could stay a part of Fairy Tail. "So, hypothetically, let's say I was actually considering this offer, what would happen?"

"Honestly, you're no where near our level of magic power..." 

Lucy cut him off "I thought you said...."

Thorin cut her off this time. "I said you had potential, we still need to train you. So like I was saying. I'd ask that you take a leave of absence from your guild, a period of time we can use to train you, to make you one of the most powerful mages in existence."

Still entertaining the thought Lucy asked, "And how long would that take?"

"That all depends on you, probably anywhere from three months to twelve."

"A year?!"

"At the most." 

Lucy shook her head. "I'm sorry, but there's no way I can leave my family for that long!"

"Haven't you ever wanted more power? Haven't you ever wanted to be as renown as Erza, as feared as Natsu, or even as admired as Gray? You're just as strong as them now, in my opinion. I was surprised you held magic power when both of your friends had theirs completely drained."

"So you were spying on me?" 

"I said I was, didn't I?" He was sure smug too. In all honesty, those were traits of her friends that Lucy had at one time or another envied. Thorin was literally offering her the world, if he was serious that is. If she became a Suberashi she could use everything she had to make the world a better place. A loud resounding voice echoing through her Magic Playground broke her train of thought. 'LUUUUCCCCYYYY' it yelled 'OH GODS LUUUUUUCCCCYY' it continued. It sounded like Natsu. The Magic Playground began to shake 'WAKE UP LUCY!'

"What is that?!" Questioned Lucy

"It looks like you're waking up, see." He pointed towards the horizon where the landscape appeared to be breaking down into nothingness.

"Wait! Thorin! If you are real, can we meet in person?"

"I'm going to sit back and see how you handle that dragon, but afterward, absolutely." Crap, Lucy had completely forgotten the reason she was unconscious in the first place. "Think about my offer, that is, if you remember."

"If I remember?"

"I made it clear this place was dream-like, you'll remember all of this as clear as any of your other dreams. Whether that be vivid or dilapidated."

"I'll try to remember!" She yelled as Thorin faded from her world. Lucy slammed her eyes shut, hoping to cut out the shaking world and evaporating landscape, suddenly all was silent and her eyes opened slowly. There before her was a pink haired idiot, shaking her awake.

"Natsu." She said weekly. 

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled and pulled her into the tightest hug ever. "You really scarred us!" 

"Us? Happy! Where's happy!?" Lucy became worried about her little blue friend.

"I'm fine Lucy! You saved me!"

"How? I don't remember anything." Just like Thorin had stated, her memory was foggy, most people didn't remember their dreams after all, not that she remembered him telling her that, she barely remembered him at all. "I remember a dragon, a lot of grass, underwater, a guy?"

"Huh?" Happy wondered what she was talking about. "Horologium summoned himself last second. The Dragon Roar was bad, even Horologium couldn't block all of it, at least you were out cold and not dead!" Happy finished, she would have to thank her clock friend later.

"Lucy," Natsu said, still crushing her against his chest "I'm so happy you're okay. You really scarred me." 

All Lucy could do was smile at his words and the closeness of their bodies. 

\--------------------------------------------------

Natsu's magic power began returning around the time he heard Lucy scream. He had to get to her fast! Sprinting the entire way back to where she was he was shocked to see what looked like a dragon, with a dapper dressed man, walking out of a newly made hole in the side of the cliff. His first instinct was to fight, but he knew he had to find Lucy. With the return of his magic came the return if his heightened senses. As the dragon exited Natsu's view he sniffed the air, tracking Lucy's scent to the area the dragon came out of. 

When he saw Happy crying over Lucy's limo body, worry flooded him. How could he let this happen? This wasn't how a family behaved, how could he treat his friend, his nakama, this way! Even if he didn't currently have feelings for her, it was undisputed that she was the most important person in his life. 

"Happy! What happened!?" 

"Natsu! Lucy...A dragon! Horologium..." Was all the exceed could get out between worried sobs.

Natsu was at Lucy's side in an instant, "Lucy!" He yelled. "Oh gods, Lucy!" He began shaking her, hoping to see her blue eyes open. "Wake up Lucy!" He felt tears begun to tug at his eyes. If he was here she wouldn't be in this state. He began crying.

"Natsu." A voice said softly, he would know that voice anywhere.

"Lucy!" He yelled, pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who have read, followed, reviewed, and given kudos! I appreciate each and every one of you! For reference, the Suberashi guild mark looks like the symbol from the book 'the wind singer.' Thanks again!


	11. To Sabertooth

"Don't scare me like that again, Luce!" Natsu scolded, finally releasing his hold on his comrade.

Lucy winced at the sudden lack of pressure around her body. "Yea, well, don't ditch us again like that." She countered.

While Lucy winced at the sudden lack of Natsu's arms around her, Natsu winced at her words. As usual, they were sharp as swords. "I'm sorry..." He looked Lucy in the eyes, hurt being clearly conveyed. "I thought that..." He stopped talking for a second in order to rethink his words. "No, no excuses. Leaving you was wrong, especially since you were so sure you were right."

"Yea!" Happy interjected himself into the conversation. "You should be sorry. I'm lucky that Lucy has gotten so strong, she took out everyone in the guild, except that one guy and his dragon, and then she saved me!"

"You almost took out a whole guild!?" Natsu practically yelled in shock and awe.

"Is that so surprising?" Lucy was still ticked at him. "Although, since I'm 'just support' I guess it is."

"What!?" Natsu yelled. "Who called you 'just support!?' I'll kick their ass!"

"You did, Natsu..." At this point in their friendship, his obliviousness rarely surprised her.

"No I didn't...." Natsu thought back to when Lucy had insisted on going alone, oh shit. "Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it! At all! I'm always boasting about how powerful my friends are, you included! I would never disrespect you magic, intentionally at least. It's the link you share with your mother, even I value that! I'm so sorry I was that oblivious. I'm an idiot..."

Lucy smiled at the pyromaniac. "Yes, you are an idiot. I know that's how you really feel. But, those comments hurt, because of my mother and more. Promise to never put down my magic again?" She asked sincerely.

"Lucy, I promise! You took down most that guild, hell, you found it in the first place! You're smart, and strong, I believe in you, I just need to work on showing it!"

Lucy smiled more, she couldn't stay mad when seemed this remorseful of his actions. "Then, in that case, I forgive you!" She beamed.

"That easy?" Natsu asked, shocked at how quickly she went from ticked off to happy.

"You tend to forgive those you...." She stopped speaking, realizing she was about to say 'love.'

"Forgive those you...?" Natsu questioned.

"View as nakama!" Happy finished for Lucy. 

"Exactly!" Lucy agreed. 'Thanks Happy.' 

"So we're cool?" Natsu asked sincerely.

"Well I'm cool, you're hot." Lucy intentionally used the double entendre, both referring Natsu's fire as well as his looks.

"Haha! Good one Luce!" Natsu laughed it off, he knew what version of 'hot' she actually meant, based on the sudden flare of her pheromones. As usual, they were slightly arousing, maybe he could be attracted to Lucy again, like when Lisanna was presumed dead. After all, there was no good reason for his feelings for Lucy disappearing... No! He immediately shut down the thought. His feelings would be meaningless if they were that fleeting. He liked Lisanna! Didn't he? He knew how much he meant to Lucy, but, he also knew how much Lucy meant to him. She was already like family, feelings would just complicate things, just like his current relationship with Lisanna. He wouldn't hurt her just cause he's an indecisive jackass, she would have to move on. It was the only way they would both go unhurt in the long run. 

"Happy!" A sudden thought broke Lucy's silence and Natsu's internal dilemma. "The Dragon? Motherpulse? What happened to it!?" 

"I don't know... After you were knocked out all I could do was cry. I'm sorry!"

"That's fine, Happy, I'm sorry I worried you."

"I saw the dragon exiting the cave, I think it was heading to Crocus." Natsu put in his two cents.

"Well," Lucy said. "then we have to get to crocus and stop it! Two dragon attacks in a decade, the citizens of Crocus will be scarred for life. That, and if we don't stop Motherpulse, it will only grow in power. Last thing anyone needs is another Acnologia, and one that can drain magic power, at that." Lucy finished.

Natsu took in all the information. "Motherpulse? Like that dragon with the eggs? The one that killed Gray!!?" Natsu grew mad at the memories. 

"No, well kinda. This dragon is apparently a clone of one of Motherglare's eggs." Lucy corrected.

"And it can drain magic power?" Natsu asked

"I think it was fused with the Pulse device, the part of the eclipse gate we were sent to find. Motherpulse seems to be able to harness its power. His (her?) dragon roar sucked all the magic energy out of the air, making me and Happy useless..."

"Well, you've got a Dragon Slayer with you now! Let's go!" Natsu stood, his regular energy and attitude seemingly returning.

"Aye sir!" Happy yelled growing wings and flying with Natsu.

"Wait!" Lucy got his attention. When Natsu and Happy turned to look at her she continued. "Sabertooth is nearby, isn't it?"

"Yea..." Natsu started inquisitively "Why?"

"Wanna know what's better than one Dragon Slayer?" Lucy asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Natsu knew where her train of thought was at. "Three!" He answered. 

"Exactly!" 

And with those words, the trio was off to recruit the Twin Dragons.

\--------------------------------------------------

"Oh, well..." Thorin sat, waiting behind his spot hidden by rocks. "They are taking forever to finish talking!" 

However he still waited, waited until he overheard their plans to go to Sabertooth.

Thorin stood, if they were going to take their time trekking their way to Sabertooth and enlist help, Thorin would have to moniter the progress of the Dragon, he wouldn't allow the Capitol to be erased by the destruction of a beast that should no longer exist. He had hoped to see Lucy defeat the dragon, but if need be, he wouldn't hesitate to eradicate the threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I clarified some of Natsu's feelings in this chapter, I incorporated some things based on reviews. Natsu should go back to being in character and not too OOC. Thanks for reading!


	12. Team Sabertooth

Sabertooth was roughly an hour ride away from Crocus, and that's exactly how long it took for our trio to burst through their towering doors. 

"Lucy!" Yukino was the first to notice their appearance. "Natsu and Happy too!"

"To what do we owe the honor?" Minerva, who was sitting next to Yukino stood to greet the people who had helped set her on the right path.

"We are so glad you two are here! Where are Sting and Rogue?!" Lucy asked urgently.

"Sting-sama should be around here somewhere."

"Yes," Minerva agreed, "and since Yukino no longer holds Libra's key, well, we should be able to hear our less than 'nimble' master clomping around sometime soon." Apparently Sting still hadn't lost all his excess weight.

"And where's Rogue?" Natsu questioned while listening for heavy footsteps of his fellow dragon slayer.

"He and Frosch went on a mission about a day ago. It was simple, they should be back soon." Minerva said with a friendly smile, the face was almost foreign on her. Her face shifted back to normal. "And Lucy, I am still sorry for what I did at the Grand Magic Games."

"You apologize every time we see each other, really, it's fine!" Lucy burst, "I'm sorry but could one of you please get Sting, it's an emergency." Sensing the distress in the Celestial Mages voice, Minerva nodded and turned heel intent on retrieving her Guild Master.

"What's wrong?" Yukino asked worriedly.

"There's a dragon that's rampaging towards Crocus. It's strong and we need all the dragon slayers we can get on short notice." 

Yukino suddenly became alert. "I'll get Orga and Rufus! Two Dragon Slayers, two Celestial Spirit Mages, Two Exceeds, a God-Slayer, a Territory, and a Memory-Make should hopefully be enough!" Little did anyone know is all it would take was the efforts of one PpSI/A Mage currently in pursuit of the dragon.

"You'd really all help?!" Happy asked in his usual chipper voice.

"Absolutely! I'll be right back!" And just like Minerva, Yukino was off to collect her teammates.

"Do you think we will be able to pull this off?" Lucy asked, turning to Natsu.

"Definitely!" He boasted in his usual rambunctious voice.

"Even though it drains magic energy?" 

Natsu didn't reply, that was honestly something he was still worrying about. However, despite his worries, he would just confront the problem when it reared it's ugly head. That was the Natsu thing to do anyways. The end of his thoughts marked the entrance of Sting and the return of Minerva.

"Natsu and Happy! How are you guys doing?" Natsu could then smell his pheromones starting up. "And how are you, Lucy?" He said in a less loud, softer, more caring voice. 

"Well we are kinda in a situation and need your help." Lucy said, noticing that Sting was no longer fat at all, but he still wasn't back to his lean former figure. Kinda just average. However, Lucy couldn't deny he was still handsome. In fact, if Natsu didn't exist, she would probably be attracted to the White Dragon Slayer. People constantly told her that they would make a cute couple. However she was to far shaded by her love for Natsu to even really consider that possibility. She did wish she would get more people telling her she and Natsu would look cute together, though. Sigh.

"What's up?" Sting asked Lucy, looking deeply into her eyes.

"There's a dragon attacking Crocus. We need all the help we can get. Sadly the other dragon slayer is gone, but between all of us we should be able to stop it! Minerva, will you help too?" She nodded in affirmation just as Yukino returned with Orga and Rufus in tail.

"This is everyone!" Yukino said, "Are we ready to go?"

"Where's Lector?" Sting questioned his white haired friend.

"I sent him to get Rogue and Frosch. I hope that was alright, Sting-Sama."

"Perfect!" Sting said. "Wait a minute! Did you say a dragon!!!!???" The words of the their Fairy Tail friends finally dawned on him.

"Yup, and we will fill you in on the way to Crocus!" Lucy said before they all arrived outside the Guild doors. She pulled out a familiar silver key before shouting. "Open, gate of the Chatioteer! Auriga!"

\--------------------------------------------------

It didn't take Thorin long to find the dragon. Between its large amount of magic power in tandem with its size, well, tracking it wasn't exactly a praise-worthy feat.

'Well,' Thorin thought. 'I could kill you. But I still want to give Lucy the chance to prove her own power. I'll settle for slowing you down.'

Thorin raised his arm towards the towering beast who was, as of now, just lurking his way through the woods. It seems the dragon still had yet to develop it's more acute senses, including one of direction. The pompous figure riding the dragon seemed just as idiotic.

With a snap of his fingers the creature immediately let out a strained growl, instantly slowing to half it's previous speed. 

"What's wrong, girl?" He heard the man atop the dragon ask, all the dragon did was growl some more, apparently it hadn't yet developed speech either. 

Thorin realized that despite its size, the poor creature was nothing more than a baby, one being manipulated by that strange man dressed in pristine cloths. 'Seriously, get a sense of fashion.' While it would take Thorin nothing more than one further snap of his fingers to kill the beast, he wondered if that was actually the correct thing to do. Killing something that didn't know any better, something that hadn't even had time to form it's own thoughts and opinions... That was wrong, right?


	13. The Trip

As soon as Lucy had waived her silver key, Erichthonius burst into sudden existence with a shower of golden light. Lucy directed him to summon his car, carriage, whatever it was. The cart soon appeared in a similar flash of golden light and Erich promoted them to climb aboard. However, despite Crocus's impending, if not current, danger, a dispute about searing arrangements broke out. People were bickering about the cramped space, who would sit next to who, who wouldn't sit next to who, and pretty much every illogical reason you could think of. Lucy, Yukino, and Minerva, the last of who couldn't care less, decided to chat amongst themselves, equally as guilty of ignoring the rampaging dragon. They were unknowingly lucky Thorin had decided to slow 'der monstrisitat.'

"Hey Lucy!" Yukino asked nervously as Sting argued with Natsu over who would get to sit next to Lucy. "When this is all over, is there any way I could say a quick 'hello' to Pisces and Libra?"

"Absolutely! I told you when you gave them to me, they're always yours if you want them back." Lucy reminded her friend.

"No! I mean, I love them, but they should be with the other Zodiacs." Yukino shifted her gaze to the now darkening sky, just dark enough as to where you could start to make out a few of the brighter stars. "Besides, I just can't shake this feeling that it's imperative that the Zodiac Keys stay together." She said, her pores basically oozing seriousness and warning before she continued, "But, I'm sure it's nothing." She mustered a weak smile.

"That feeling is probably because of all that commotion with the Eclipse Gate, which isn't exactly over and done with, I'm afraid..." Lucy trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Yukino questioned. 

Noticing that Minerva had exited the conversation, probably due to the fact she wasn't part of it, and entered Auriga's cart, Lucy shifted the topic. "I'll tell you all on the ride there. Hey! Guys!" She got the attention of the bickering males. "Let's go, there's a dragon running loose!"

"Oh yea! I totally forgot!" Natsu said, just as simple as ever. 

"How could you forget!? Flame-Brain?!" His rivalry with Natsu surfacing.

"Oy! Only my ice freak of a friend can call me that! You wanna fight!?"

"Guys enough!" Lucy interrupted which immediately caused both bickering guys to settle down. "We have to go now!"

By now, Sting, Natsu, and Lucy were the only three not actually in the car. Yukino and Minerva had settled first, followed by Orga and Rufus. If you were looking at the carriage, the door would be on the right side. And upon entering, you would find a seat that wrapped its way around the interior, it was a good size, but not meant for large amounts of people. Currently, Yukino sat on the side that was backed against the front, the two seats to her right wide open. Orga's massive frame took up most the seating across from the door while Minerva and Rufus sat in the far back, one seat between the two. Yukino got up and made her way to the still open door.

"Um, guys, should we be leaving?" Yukino asked the bickering trio timidly.

"Sorry, we're coming." Lucy said as Yukino went back to her seat.

Lucy entered first, immediately seeing the open seat next to her fellow Spirit Mage. She decided to take the center seat, so she could be more easily heard as she updated the Sabertooth members on the current situation. Natsu and Sting arrived at the door at the same time, both of them struggling to enter first, pushing each other in a show of laughable dominance. The brief skirmish ended when Sting finally squeezed through, immediately sitting next to Lucy. With a huff, Natsu took the only remaining seat between Minerva and Rufus.

"Sting, you ass, Lucy's my best friend and Minerva scares me, you should have sat here!" This outburst only caused both Minerva and Lucy to giggle, and smirks to appear across the remaining males. Sting subtly brushed his hand against the back of Lucy's, a gesture Lucy had constantly done to Natsu, who could smell the blond males pheromones across the aisle. Lucy caught onto what sting was doing and it wasn't long before Lucy was blushing from nervousness, Sting was blushing from infatuation, Yukino was blushing, well for no reason, and Natsu was blushing out of awkwardness from Sting's pheromones. 

"What is wrong with you four?" Minerva broke the ice the moment she saw the red stain on her friends cheeks.

"Yea! You all look like red snappers!" Happy yelled as he jumped up onto Natsu's lap.

"Nothing!" They all said in unison. Lucy cleared her throat. "Okay, Erichthonius, can you get to Crocus ASAP?" 

"Yes, Miss Lucy!" 

"Wait!" Sting yelled. "Sorry. I just wasn't ready for the motion sickness...you can go now though..uh..Erich..thonius?"

"Don't worry, Sting!" Lucy boldly grabbed the hand that was brushing against hers in reassurance. "You won't get sick while riding in this!" 

"Really!" Sting was excited about that, but his elation faltered as Lucy slipped her hand free. 

"You can continue, Auriga."

"To clarify, Miss Lucy. My name is Erich or Erichthonius, my cars name is Auriga. Sorry for the confusion." He replied, the carriage suddenly jolting forward, already at its top speed.

Lucy turned to her friends and took a deep breath."Okay, so I guess I should fill you all in. Natsu, Happy, and I accepted a job from The Princess. When we arrived on the outskirts of town, our magic was instantly drained from us, Erich disappeared, we crashed, long story short. We then walked to the castle and met with The Princess, where she told us a main piece of the Eclipse Gate we destroyed had somehow survived. While the Eclipse Gate slowly drained magic over time, this device, which she called Pulse, was rampantly draining magical energy in a massive radius. To make matters worse, she told us that it had come into the hands of an independent mercenary guild called Ogre Force." Lucy finished the first part of her story.

"Wow." Sting gawked. 

"Yea." Yukino agreed solemnly. "Having no power is horrible, all someone has to do it take my keys and I'm useless, one f the downsides of being stictly a holder type." She finished with a sigh.

Minerva remembered the time she took Lucy's keys from her, an action that still bothered her. "A device that drains magic? It reminds me too much of Face for my taste." Minerva spat, remembering how far she had fallen from grave during the whole Tartaros dilemma.

"Ya. Only there's more. We tracked the device to the woods on the outskirts of the city. Once we got there, Natsu and I split up to cover more ground." She locked eyes with Natsu smiling, he appreciated that she took the effort to show him she really had forgiven him. "It was Happy and I that found their base. Together, we snuck in. Happy deactivated pulse while I came face to face with their guild master. It was at that point he both released and revealed his grand weapon. Motherpulse. He had collected the remnants of the Eclipse Gate as well as the useless eggs of Motherglare. He cloned the genetic sequence, and combined the result with Pulse. Now, he plans to use it, Motherpulse, to 'even the playing field' against Mages. He tried to kill me and Happy, the dragon sucked our magic energy clean, but we were saved at the last second by one of my spirits." She looked at each of her wide eyed friends. "Then we came to you for help. After all it takes a dragon slayer to beat a dragon. Sabertooth had two, well one as of right now."

"Damn." Was all Orga offered on the topic.

"Well I'm glad you came to our guild, Lucy!" Beamed Sting, we are always happy to help our friends. "Should we come up with a strategy?"

"That's the thing." Happy said softly, "Lucy and I weren't around it long enough to figure out any weakness. All we know is that when it uses it's dragons roar, well, all our power is drained. I don't think we can get that close to it..."

"Minerva?" Rufus asked, looking over Natsu at his friend. "Is there any chance you can still use Curse, rather than Magic?"

"I'm not sure, Mirajane helped me seal it away. But if I could tap into the energy within myself, would the dragon be able to take it away?"

"From what we know, all he does is drain ethernano, I can't believe I'm saying this, but if you can use Curse, well that would be great!" Lucy beamed.

"I'll practice what little I can while we are in here." She held out her arm a oil colored tomoe forming in mid air. Everyone watched in anticipation. Minerva noticed this. "What are you all looking at? It's not going to happen immediately, carry on." 

Yukino decided to speak up next. "Auriga, or Erich, sorry, seems to be a great addition to your team, Lucy!"

Sting agreed. "Yea! Especially since you know so many dragon slayers, I can't believe how great this feels! I bet you were excited your first time too, right Natsu?"

"I, uh, actually got food poisoning, so it wasn't as good as on the ride over or now. Luckily Lucy had an odd little cup spirit that healed me."

"Really!? Lucy that's amazing!" Yukino praised her friend. 

"And she got two more new ones!" Natsu furthered the conversation. 

"You did? That's pretty cool!" Sting also credited her. 

"Can I ask what they are, Lucy?" Yukino inquired further.

"Yea, the 'Cup' is Crater as Natsu said. The 'Crown' is Corona, and he can recharge magic energy. They're both silver keys. Then I received a black key, Draco, a dragon. Although I haven't tried summoning him yet. That could actually be useful against Motherpulse!" Lucy couldn't believe she didn't think of this sooner, however she was only able to Star Dress, not actually summon.

"A black key?" Yukino asked.

"Yea." Lucy tried to remember Hisui's words. "Princess Hisui told me about them, there's also a thing called platinum keys, I hadn't heard of them either. Apparently there are three black keys, you own one, actually. Theres Ophiuchus, Draco, and Hydra."

"I had no idea that was actually a thing!" Yukino grinned cheek to cheek while Minerva kept molding her magic different ways. "So what makes them different?"

"They're apparently really powerful, and also harder to summon. Also they were the last of their species. They foresaw their own destruction and sought to attain immortality amongst the stars. Lucky for them, they found and ancient and powerful guild who was able to grant their wishes." Lucy finished her story before a single word suddenly crossed her mind. "Suberashi." She whispered almost inaudibly.

"What was that?" Sting asked, his heightened hearing allowing him to hear her whisper. 

"Nothing." Lucy turned to face him. 

'Suberashi?' Wasn't that the name of a childhood fairy tale? Why did it cross her mind now?' 

"Nothing at all." She emphasized.

\--------------------------------------------------

Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster were waking back to the guild after yet another successful team-up. 

"That mission was easy." The Devil Slayer cockily said.

"That it was, we were lucky our skill outmatched that of the enemies." The scarlet haired beauty agreed as they pushed through their guild doors, finally home. "We've returned!" She exclaimed.

They received a few 'hello's,' but nothing lavish, except Juvia who latched onto Gray's arm, her boyfriend's arm! Her years of persistence had finally paid off. Juvia, after years of having her feelings ignored by Gray, had finally decided to move on. It was a decision that weighed heavily on her watery body, but it was worth the cessation of the pain she had constantly felt. Her first attempt at distancing herself from her crush was to stop using the honorific at the end of his name, only calling him 'Gray' and not 'Gray-Sama.' Sama was reserved for people in high emotional regard. Secondly, Juvia made an effort to not constantly be watching Gray, it was borderline unhealthy anyways. Finally she just ended up taking more and more jobs. And when she wasn't on jobs, she was busy touring the city of Magnolia. She was astonished at how beautiful it was, and still surprised at how much she had overlooked due to her obsession with the ice wizard. After about a month of her sudden change, Gray finally took notice. He felt 'off' by not having the water mage constantly around him. It was like a part of his life had been removed, and it wasn't long before Gray realized how much he missed Juvia. Another month later, and Gray couldn't stand being separated from Juvia. He decided to ask her our on a date, which she accepted, but not with her original obsessed attitude. The date had went well and they continued dating, neither unhealthily obsessed with the other. And after a year together, they had fallen in love. Real love. 

"How was your trip, Gray-Sama?" The honorifics were back.

"It went really well, Juvi. I wish you could have come, too bad we left before you got back from your job." He put his arm around her as they and Erza walked over to the counter Mira was working at. 

"I wish I could have gone too... But my job called for a water Mage, and only one person. I'm sorry. 

"There's no need to apologize." Gray kissed her cheek which caused her to blush.

"Um, Gray-Sama?" Juvia got her boyfriends attention. 

"Ya?"

"Not that I'm complaining, far from it, actually, but um...your cloths?"

Gray looked down at his near naked body. "Damn it!" He yelled before turning to Juvia. "I'll have to save this kind of eagerness for tonight." He whispered into her ear, causing her already pervasive redness to deepen to unnatural levels.

"Aw!!!!" Mira squealed. "You two are so cute!!" 

"Try hearing Gray talk about nothing but her for a week. It's not cute after a week, just annoying. I think he's more obsessed than her now." Juvia told the take-over Mage as she pulled out a stool and sat down. "Could I get a strawberry soda, Mira?"

Mira simply placed the bottle she already held on the table. "I grabbed it when you entered. I know most your orders by now. I have strawberry cake too, if you want it?" The look Erza gave her told her she did. She placed the cake next to the soda. Erza dug her fork into the white frosting and began taking blissful bites of the decadence in front of her.

Between bites Erza asked. "Mira? It's quiet. Where are Natsu and Lucy? Happy for that matter?"

"Those three took a job together, and based on how things looked before they left, we might soon have another Fairy Tail couple!!!" Mira squealed again. 

"Those two, I agree, would be cute together. I just hope Natsu feels the same way as Lucy's painfully obvious feelings." 

"I agree." The white haired beauty stated. "I can feel like something will happen!"

"Yup, Gray and Juvia, Gajeel and Levy too right?"

"Yes!!!!!" Mira squealed again and leaned in close to Erza for the next part. "I even heard that Gajeel marked her!" She yelled in a hushed tone.

"Marked her?" Erza questioned.

"Oh, you don't know? Wendy was the one to tell me what it meant. Apparently, when a dragon slayer sinks their canines into someone, well, that's their mate for life."

"Interesting. What happens if they accidentally bite someone, that could be hazardous."

"Wendy told me it has to be someone the dragon slayer already treasures above anyone else. So that way there is no accident. And once it happens, no matter what, they will always be connected, for life. It's like Gajeel and Levy are already married!!" Mira was on the verge of a nosebleed.

Erza ignored her comment. "So how are you and Laxus doing?"

Mira only blushed, "I uh, Laxus? I have..no..no idea what you're talking about, Erza!" Erza loved seeing Mira flustered and stammering over her usual confident self.

"I'm sure you don't." Erza said taking another bite of cake and downing it with a sip of soda.

\--------------------------------------------------

Thorin his behind more rocks, just outside of the dragon's vision. Even slowed to half its speed, it was still moving too fast for his taste. He could slow it more, hell, he could even halt its movement all together, but that would alert the dragon and it's master to an outside preventative force. 

Thorin looked at his watch. 'Almost 2 hours since Lucy and her friends set off. They should be back anytime now.' He thought to himself just as the dragon reached one of the entrances to town. Thorin was surprised it took them that long, but then again it was probably essential for the plot. Plot? What was he thinking, this wasn't a story!

Thorin pushed his abstract ideas out of his mind and watched as the dragon reared up on its hind legs and prepared a dragon roar. The ethernano from the air and Thorin's body were sucked away during the charge up. 'Crap, it can suck ethernano from this far away? I'm no where near it!' At that thought the dragon released a white beam of devastating energy at the scrambling and screaming citizens of Crocus. 'My magic's too low, I can't stop it!!' Thorin's mind screamed as the blast reached its mark.


	14. Team Natsu and Team Sabertooth vs Team Reaver

The powerhouse Fairy Tail/Sabertooth team up was finally approaching The Flower Capitol. About half way there most of them felt like they couldn't get there fast enough, and when they saw Crocus for their cliff side view, they knew their guts had been right. The lower part of Crocus was aglow with flames, smoke pluming up into the night sky. In the center of all the commotion was a familiar large dark gray dragon, the source of all the pandemonium. 

Erich veered to the right, driving their chariot right along the edge of the cliff where the gradual slope would bring them to Crocus. 

"I don't think we are going to reach in time, we are already too late!" Rufus yelled. 

"It's in my line of sight!" Minerva shouted over the rattle of the car and the roar of its engine. 

"Can you get us there?" Lucy asked similarly as loud.

"I wouldn't have said anything if I couldn't! However at this distance with all of us, it'll be a large drain on my magic energy. I'm still working on Curse!" 

"Erich!" Lucy yelled through the window behind her.

"Yes?" 

"Stop the car! We can teleport the rest of the way!"

The car immediately came to a halt, causing everyone to rumble around inside. Limbs went flying, people crashed into one another, and it was to be noted that Natsu flew forward. His head currently resting right in between Lucy's breasts. Realizing just exactly where he was, Natsu pushed against the wall to get himself out of the predicament he currently found himself in. It didn't help. The 'wall' Natsu thought he pushed against was actually None other than Lucy's breasts.

"The hell are you doing, perv!" Sting yelled as soon as he noticed the situation. Placing his left foot at the base if Natsu's stomach, he pressed forward, kicking the fire dragon slayer back to his original seat opposite Lucy, the Fairy Tail duo's faces beet red. 

"I...uh...sorry?" Natsu offered unsure of what to say.

"It's..fine." 'Its more than fine!!' Lucy thought, however. "It's not exactly your fault." She turned back to the window. "Erich! I didn't mean immediately!" He was great at diving, not so much at stopping. 

"Natsu!" Sting was still upset, jealous. "That was still uncalled for! You disrespected Lucy!"

Lucy looked towards her blonde friend, "Sting, like you're one to talk."

"What do you....oh." Sting suddenly realized his had had somehow become positioned under Lucy's bottom. "I...uh...sorry?" He squeaked out, just as Natsu had and removed his hand, a blush now on his face face.

"Uh, where are we?" Happy asked yawning. 

"How could you sleep through that?" Lucy yelled noticing her blue friend sudden awakening. Happy just shrugged. 

"We should use Territory now." Minerva suggested. "Come on everyone, out of the car."

Everyone agreed at her words and they all piled out of the car, waiting for Minerva to cast her magic. 

"Erich, you're dismissed, thank you!" He was disappearing when she added, "And work on your stopping!" She saw a quick smile appear across his face. She turned to Minerva. "Minerva? How much would only teleporting yourself and 5 others take compared to all 8 of us?" She questioned.

"It's an exponential drain, those last two would save me a bit of magic. Why? You aren't planning on leaving someone are you?"

"I can use Sagittarius' long distance to my advantage, Happy can carry me over while I'm using it."

"Aye sir!" Happy bellowed while Minerva nodded in understanding. 

"Gotcha. Everyone ready?" Minerva asked before a tomoe shaped seal appeared beneath the remaining member's feet. No one objected and Minerva finished. "Good, then let's go." 

Everyone disappeared into the tomoe and instantly appeared at the entrance to Crocus. 

\----------

Natsu, Minerva, Yukino, Orga, Rufus, and Sing instantly felt the effects of being so close to the dragon. Natsu noted that the drain wasn't as strong as it was when they first arrived, but it certainly nerfed all of their abilities. Sting and Natsu were the first to go immediately on the offensive.

"Hey! Asshole!" Natsu yelled loud enough to catch the attention of the dragon, which was currently a few city blocks away from them. The dragon turned, slowly, menacingly. "See how you like this! Fire Dragons Roar!" Natsu held his overlapping hands up to his mouth and blew through the open hole. A steady beam of orange fire burst fourth inching closer to Motherpulse.

At the same time, Sting clapped his hands in front of him, then brought them to his right side before shouting, "Holy Ray!" He opened his hands, a brilliant glow illuminating his palms before hundreds of streaks of light flew forward, intent on skewering its target. 

"My, my." Reaver's voice boomedtaking notice to the young adults. "It seems you children don't learn, do you? Motherpulse." All he had to do was say its name before the creature instantly emit a shock wave that cancelled both dragon slayer's attacks. 

"What the...?" Natsu choked out.

"How the...?" Sting supported his bewilderment.

"Let me try! Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon!" Orga yelled holding his hand in Goku form. A small ball of electricity formed before a thin black tinted yellow beam of energy erupted from his hand. It almost reached Motherpulse before it too was shut down. "Crap... That's the strongest I got." 

"Open, Gate of the Bear Cub, Polaris!" Yukino yelled, deciding to try what she had. A golden ball of light formed at the rip of the star shaped key before it expanded into a magic seal. A familiar bell sound was heard and a large pink crystal like bear formed before everyone. "Polaris! Go after the dragon!" She turned towards her friends. "Polaris is mostly physical, maybe he'll get get a few hits in." 

"Good idea." Rufus said, his hand pushing his hat up and out of his eyes in order to get a better look at the dragon in front of him. "There's no point in me trying anything, it would yield the same results as the others. Minerva? How are you on Curse? I retain the notion that Curse seems to be the deciding factor in this battle." 

"I'm working on it, Rufus! It's not as easy as you'd think, that is if I can even still do it." She trailed off, she knew this is what she needed to do, but unlocking Curse, even trying to, was bringing up far to many memories she would rather forget. The whole process was emotionally taxing on her. But for her friends, the people that saved her from the darkness she was still conflicted by, she would do anything, even tap into that inner turmoil. It was with these thoughts that she felt a surge of energy burst from within her. Just as she thought she was getting the hang of Curse the dragon decided to counter attack. 

"Motherpulse, dragon roar!" Reaver yelled, causing the dragon to do as it was told. The ethernano from the air disappeared, causing a drop in the magic levels of everyone around. Just as Motherpulse was about to unleash its signature beam of energy a sharp glowing arrow imbedded itself into its neck, it began to glow violently before it exploded in a blast of magic energy. The concussive aftermath caused Raver to become separated from Motherpulse, who was slammed against the wall of a building. Lucy's attack was successful. 

"There!" Rufus yelled. "That's its weakness, it can only stop magic attacks it's expecting!" 

"And look!" Yukino yelled as Polaris used all of its strength to hoist its heavy body into the air, leaning forward to body slam Motherpulse. Motherpulse let out a loud pained howl. "Polaris looks like he's working too!"

"It looks like this battle is just getting started!" Natsu yelled. 

\----------

Up on the ridge, Lucy prepped her attack. "Star Dress! Sagittarius Form!" Lucy requiped into her familiar jockey attire. She readied her bow and watched as her friends attacks illuminated the dark streets below, and she winced as each of those luminous attacks was easily dissipated by the dragon. The dragon started to form its signature magic draining roar. "It's now or never." Lucy said. "Supernova Shot." The tip of her arrow illuminated and she released the bow. Despite the roughly 5 mile distance to her target, the arrow hummed through the air before in magically embedded itself into Motnerpulse's neck with pinpoint accuracy. "Score!" She was proud of herself as she saw the arrow violently illuminate and then implode.

\--------------------------------------------------

'Thats wise.' Thorin thought as he slowly recharged his magic energy. 'She's staying outside of his area of effect, sending physical attacks, then activating the magic when the dragon isn't draining ethernano. We definitely made the right choice with this girl.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cherish every review, kudo, bookmark, and hit! Thanks everyone!


	15. Unison Raid

"Get up!! Be more useful than that!" Reaver snapped at Motherpulse who had just been body checked by Polaris. Motherpulse just groaned before lashing out at Polaris. The attack had far more power than the onlooking Mages thought. Each talon embedded itself deep within Polaris' abdomen, slicing clean through the pink armor. The four diagonal wounds glowed golden light, Polaris let out a pained howl before disappearing in a radiance of glittering sparkles. 

"Polaris!!" Yukino cried at the temporary loss of her friend. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Yuki!" Sting cried across the battlefield. "He did his best." He smiled reassuringly before turning to Natsu. "I usually do this with Rogue, but I have no idea what's taking them this long to get here!"

"Do what!? Natsu yelled over the screams of the burning buildings all around. 

"A Unison Raid! Can we try it!?" Sting asked. 

A Unison Raid? Natsu wasn't sure that would work. Sure it gave a drastic and exponential increase to an attack, but sadly, Natsu had never done one. Successfully, that is. He had used attacks in tandem with others, he had even used a tri-dragon roar against Acnologia with Wendy and Gajeel, but that was just three attacks at once. A Unison Raid required exactly the same amount of magical output on both ends. It either took a large amount of training, or a high level of trust and companionship so that one could somehow feel exactly what the other was thinking. An empathetic connection, so to speak. Natsu had watched as his friends had performed a Unison Raid countless times, well not countless, but a lot! He had wanted to try performing one with Gray, at one point. Gray had accepted, but no matter how many times he tried, Natsu had faltered. He knew it wasn't Gray's fault, Gray had preformed it on multiple occasions, with Juvia... And they did have an unspoken connection for quite a while... But didn't Natsu and Gray also share a deep camaraderie? It was all too confusing to Natsu, all he knew was it was unlikely he would be able to preform one now, with Sting of all people. 

"Uh..." Natsu became uncharacteristically bashful. "I don't think it will work. I can't..." He trailed off.

"Well," Sting smiled at his idol, "it's worth trying? Isn't it?"

Natsu regained his signature toothy grin. "You're damn right!"

At Natsu's determined words, Motherglare resumed its rampage, intent on following its orders and killing the Mages before it. 

"You guys! It's attacking again!" Yukino yelled. 

"This thing and it's magic sapping are really getting on my nerves!" Orga added.

"Indeed, and I can't even memorize it. Sigh." Rufus said. "Minerva?"

"I'm working on it! Curse is getting close, I can feel it!"

Once again it prepared the dragon roar, only to once again be stopped by Lucy's Supernova Shot. The shot began to glow and combusted before Motherpulse could let out its beam of energy.

"Lucy is firing those slowly!" Natsu yelled, "Is she alright?" He said to no one in particular. 

"Let me check." Minerva waived her arm to her side and a small window sized portal opened behind Lucy and Happy. 

"Nice shot!" The blue exceed exclaimed. 

"Thanks!"

"Lucy?" 

Lucy turned around, surprised, to see who was getting her attention, especially since she thought her and Happy were alone. Upon spotting the small dimensional opening she spoke. "Minerva? What's going on? Is everything alright?" She pressed worriedly.

"I was going to ask you that." The territory Mage retorted. "You're firing those shots rather slowly, are you injured?" 

"No! Sorry, they just have a bit of a load up time, I'll try to be faster!"

"No pressure, we are just fine you're okay." She waiver her hands and the small tomoe opening vanished.

Lucy turned heel and drew her bow once again, pouring the energy required into the next 'Supernova Shot.' 

"She sure has changed a lot, huh Lucy?" Happy inquired.

"Yup, she definitely has." She replied with a smile.

Back on the battlefield, Minerva turned back towards her friends, "Lucy's fine, it just takes her a while to set them up." Inside her head, Minerva though, 'That girl sure has changed, she's gotten much stronger.'

"Thanks for checking on her!" Natsu yelled back towards the dark haired female. 

A loud, pompous voice interrupted the good news. "You know?" Reaver started his speech. "This arrogant, pervasive, ridiculous power that you Mages are throwing around is EXACTLY why I created Motherpulse." At his words the dragon recovered from the Supernova Shot and ungracefully swayed its way behind Reaver. "How can ordinary humans ever feel safe with surges of energy like yourselves running around?!" He yelled.

"We protect those that can't protect themselves! That's part of being a Mage!" Natsu yelled.

"You need to rethink your philosophy!" Sting added.

Reaver scoffed. "My philosophy? It's pretty set in stone. Here it is plain and simple. You're the 10%. The minority. You're the abnormality, and you should be removed. Motherpulse is the key to that whole plan." He chuckled. "I'm not the only person with these sentiments, there's a whole movement actually. A movement that will be more than happy to pay me quite the pretty penny in order to use my 'services.' So basically I get paid to believe how I do. After all, money makes the world go round."

Rage boiled up inside Natsu, pure red blinding his vision. How could anyone be so prejudiced!? And a 'whole movement?' Path at implied there were more. More who hated the very existence of Mages just as Grimoire Heart had hated the existence of humans. Both were sickening. And for money!!!!

Motherpulse lifted his (her?) head and took in a deep breath. "What is it, girl?" Reaver asked. (Apparently it was a girl.) Motherpulse, still unable to speak, simply turned its head to the mountainous area Lucy was preparing her shot. From the vast distance Reaver saw the gleam of her bow. "Ah, I see. Well then, Motherpulse, dragon roar." He commanded it like a pokemon. Motherpulse obeyed and shifted its body towards Lucy.

Natsu caught on to what was happening between Lucy, Reaver, and Motherpulse. "Stay the hell away from her!" He screamed at Reaver, panic washing over him causing his whole body to feel like it was sinking. He turned to Sting. "Sting! It's now or never! Match my power!" Natsu turned towards the charging dragon. He felt his magic being swiftly drained by the charge up of Motherpulse's dragons roar, but he had to use what little he had left to save Lucy. It was distracted, that could be to their advantage. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu yelled as his extended arms swirled around his body, fire running along his arms.

Sting had a very limited time to react. Natsu was moving fast, and definitely intent on causing a decent amount of collateral damage. The citizens were evacuated anyways, most likely the efforts of the Princess, helping in what ways she could. Sting clapped his hands together, feeling the drain on his magic energy once again before he moved them to his right side. "Holy Ray!" He yelled, sending hundreds of light spears outwards for the second time in this fight. 

The light seemed to wrap around Natsu's flames which were swirling around his body. Natsu jumped into the air and began to spin while Sting continued shooting his projectiles at his teammate. At the peak of his jump, Natsu' flames completely enveloped him, followed by a complete take over of the white dragon slayers efforts. Natsu was now inside a glowing ball of immensely powerful and illuminating energy, which he then forced forward. "This'll show you to mess with Lucy!!! Unison Raid!" Natsu couldn't be more proud that the attack seemed to work, however, he now had to deal with the situation of his freefall. Apparently all the power allowed him to jump far further that normal, the fall would definitely break some bones. Luckily though, Sting had his back and caught Natsu, well kind of. Sting jumped forward, landing on his stomach while Natsu crashed down onto his back. Both of them were on the ground, but relatively unscathed. Toghether they watches as this glowing orb of energy reached its target. The moment it struck, it expanded, fully enveloping the dragon and far more, hopefully Reaver would feel the effects of that one too! Neither male, nor their onlooking teammates could believe the mini near nuclear blast they had caused. The dragon should be done for sure!

They watched as the huge blast area began to clear, the dull glow of the light orange explosion coming to an end. They had done it! Or so they thought until a loud pitch erupted from the blast followed by a light blue blast of energy. Motherpulse was unscathed and continued to fire it's blast towards Lucy as originally intended.

"No..." Sting whispered, disbelieving of what was happening.

"LUUUUUCCCCCCYYYYY!" Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs as the beam struck the mountain, engulfing it in a blast that put shame to his unison raid. So many things flashed through his eyes. The day he met Lucy. The first time she contracted a spirit in front of him. When she got captured by Phantom Lord. Kain almost crushing her head in front of him. The day he found out she liked him... With all the mixed feelings and emotions running rampant through his body, he didn't even notice the tears streaking down his cheeks. Lucy couldn't die. 

\----------

Lucy, with light speed reaction, turned and grabbed Happy the moment she saw the Dragon Roar burst forth from her friends seemingly devastating attack. She picked up Happy and put him under her left arm before she quickly pulled out a familiar silver key. "Horologium!" She yelled just as the blast engulfed them.

\----------

'That girl has more lives than that cat.' Thorin thought, relief washing over him the moment he sensed her presence still active, still alive. 'If Motherpulse keeps using that attack, then I'll never be able to recharge my magic.'

A thought flashed across Thorin's mind. 'I could use that...' He held up his left hand and looked at the guild mark inscribed there. 'No.' He brushed the thought away. 'At least not yet. This situation must be dire for me to even conspsider that option... For now I'll focus on keeping up my magic.'


	16. Near Death

As Motherpulse's blast expanded and erased the part of the mountain Lucy was, all Natsu could do was cry, feeling the exact same way he had felt when Lisanna never returned from that mission. This was one of the reasons he friend-zoned Lucy, the pain of loosing someone grew exponentially the closer they were to your heart, right? Then why did this feel so much worse then hearing the news about Lisanna. Natsu felt like there was a hole in him, right in the center of his chest, that was now only being filled by angst and bile and every sick thing a human could feel. 

It was Sting who got up from under Natsu and wrapped his arms around his back, in an uncharacteristically hug. Showing what little way he could offer comfort. 

"Natsu, she and Happy are not gone, at least not for sure." He squeezed Natsu tighter to quell the other boys shaking, Sting had never seen Natsu like this. Hell, no one had seen Natsu like this. 

"But look, Motherpulse is turning this way, our magic's almost gone. If we don't move then WE will be dead, for sure!" When Sting realized Natsu wasn't moving, even when Sting tried to pick him up, and Motherpulse' body was coming closer and closer, he resigned to fate and repositioned himself sitting next to Natsu, wrapping his arm around Natsu's shoulder and pulling his head down so he could continue crying on Sting's shoulder. 

"Alright, fine." He said softly. "If you're gonna sit here and die, then I am too."

Natsu broke from his bawling, wondering why Sting would stay and not run, he should just leave Natsu alone. Alone just like Lisanna had 5 years ago and alone like he felt right now at the loss of Lucy. "Why should you die!?" He snapped at his blonde friend.

"I could ask you the same thing. What's dying going to do?" At Sting's words Natsu sniffles and looked up at him, curious. "It's sure as he'll not as a sacrifice, nothing would come of it. It won't bring Lucy or Happy back, and that's if they're actually...gone." Natsu knew Sting was right, and he was being stupid, but his body felt like lead and they lack of success Sting had at moving Natsu told him it was just as heavy. "And if they survived, Natsu, do you really want them coming down here only to find out you're dead. I don't know if you know...but Lucy cares for you...a lot. I can see it and smell it. What you're feeling now would feel even worse for her. Do you want her to feel that!?" He yelled, tears now threatening his eyes.

"What about you, I know you liked her a lot. I could also see and smell it, how aren't you even upset over this!!??" Natsu yelled at his friend, at these words a few tears escapedt Sting's eyes. 

"I am upset! But I know if you die, or I die, it will be in vain! There are people at home who love us and care for us!!" Sting quieted his yelling. "And sitting here accepting death is selfish. We have to live, to continue to fight for the ones who fight for us."

\----------

The rest of the team was watching the two Dragon Slayers bicker. Well, not bickering, this conversation had meaning. And they were also watching as Motherpulse was instructed to once again use it's Dragon Roar. The familiar feel of Ethernano being drained hit all of them and what little magic power they had managed to reserve during each roar was now completely gone. Minerva's magic power had hit 0. Normally when magic power hit zero, you either felt light headed and your vision blurred, you lost consciousness, or, in rare cases, you died. However, while all of her powerful friends were only feeling drowsy and extremely light headed, Minerva instead felt a dark glow illuminating from within herself. She had achieved what she had spent the last two trying to achieve. Curse. Internal energy that couldn't be sapped by Motherpulse. It wasn't a copious amount, in fact it was rather on the small side. But it should be enough to save her friends and do a few other tasks, namely, stop another Dragon Roar. Minerva got to her feet and warped herself in front of Natsu and Sting just as Motherpulse let loose another beam of energy. She held her arm in front her her and opened a portal. The attack vanished through the Territory, and just as it did she opened another one to the side of Motherpulse, the beam emerging and hitting the Dragon with its own attack. She dropped the portals, noticing she had used almost all her Curse, and turned to Sting and Natsu, as well as her other three teammates farther away. "Time to get out of here, we need to retreat." She waived her arm and they all disappeared, reappearing on the cliffside Lucy was before the bombardment.

\----------

Just as the beam of energy had hit the mountainside, Lucy was lucky enough to be saved by Horologium earlier that day, she would be unable to summon him again. But she could Star Dress and see what happened. 

"Star Dress, Horologium!" Her cloths were requiped into what looked like wooden armor. Wooden chest plate, wooden gauntlets, wooden segments protecting everywhere, each beautifully detailed and designed. Her head was adorned with a gold circlet that hung loose in the front, a ball at the end of the length. Like a pendulum. Her left arm, was outfitted with multiple watches. Happy was still under that arm, and all she could do was reposition him into a hug and position herself in between him and the blast, hopefully that would work. And as the blast passed over the two, leaving them completely un phased, she knew that it had. This version of Star Dress was like Erza's Adamantine Armor! It was awesome.

Just as the lingering effects of the blast died down, Lucy stood up and let Happy down. 

"Thanks! That's twice you've saved me today!" He chirped.

Upon his words, six figures materialized themselves in front of the duo.

"Minerva! You unlocked Curse!" Rufus exclaimed. 

Minerva turned to the two Dragon Slayers. "This is where Lucy is... Or was.. I'm sorry if you find what you aren't looking for."

"Guys!" Lucy yelled, practically tripping over a sudden small ledge, whatever, the armor protected her. 

Natsu's tears of sorrow switched to tears of joy upon seeing them. "Lucy!! Happy!" He stumbled over himself sprinting towards his closest friends, his nakama. When he reached them he wrapped his arms around both of them. Still crying, he thrust his head into the crook of Lucy's neck, taking in her scent and reveling in the fact that she was really there, that she was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you all for reading. If you like the story please leave a review, if you don't like the story leave a review. I love getting feedback. Thanks again!


	17. Fixing the Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it sits, this work's name as well as it's description are very bland. Starting next chapter I'm changing the name of this work. I haven't decided on a title yet, but if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Natsu was still clinging to Lucy, Happy crushed between the two. "I....can't....breath..." Happy choked out, Natsu didn't listen, he was far too relieved to stop holding them.

Lucy hugged Natsu back, not quite sure of what was happening. It was then that she felt something wet and warm on her neck. "Natsu, are you...crying?"

He squeezed her tighter before quietly saying, "I thought I'd lost you..."

Lucy rubbed comforting circles on her friends back. "It's okay. I'm okay. Happy's okay."

"No...I'm...not..." Happy struggled to say as Natsu leaned back, causing Happy shoot out from between the two with a resounding 'pop.'

Lucy continued. "I've never seen you like this. We had you worried, didn't we?" Natsu only gave a slight nod of the head. "I'm sorry." Her arm slid from his upper back down to his arm then his hand before slipping away. She looked past Natsu, at her friends who were equally as worried. "I'm sorry!" She said louder. "But we're fine, no need to worry!" She gave a toothy grin.

"You have no idea what a relief that is!" Sting started. "You should have seen Natsu, though, he was..." Sting trailed off, there was no need to tell her Natsu was going to intentionally get himself killed when he thought he'd lost her. She would only get angry and scold him. That could wait for when a whole city wasn't about to be destroyed by a Dragon.

"He was..." Lucy inquired looking between Natsu, who was looking down towards the ground worried, and Sting, who just began smiling. 

"Nothing!" He lied. "I just started talking, didn't actually have anything to say!" He began to laugh.

"That's just like you, Sting." Lector said. "You've always been a big talker."

"Oh, yea right, I'm far more reserved than most!" In his mind he was implying the entirety of Fairy Tail. "Wait! Lector!!??" 

"Ya?" The brown cat answered. 

"How are you here? You went to get Rogue."

"Already got him, look." Lector pointed to the air with his stubby arm. "See?" Sure enough, there was Frosch using aera to bring Rogue closer to where they stood. It only took a second or two before both the raven and the 'frog' were with everyone. 

"Is that a dragon?" Rogue asked. 

"Well, 'hello' to you too." Sting snapped bitterly. 

Natsu looked at his fellow dragon slayers. As Sting snapped at Rogue, Sting quickly turned his body 90 degrees and crossed his arms, angry and dismissive. Rogue's face grew solemn and he looked down, tilting his head slightly to the side. It was clear something had happened between the two. Natsu had known Sting's sexuality since around the time he met him. Sting was bisexual, and if the left earring wasn't the give away, then his pheromones were. Sting's pheromones smelled like pineapple, and Natsu got a good whif of it whenever the boy was in close proximity to either Lucy or Rogue. Natsu guessed their companionship ran a bit deeper for the blonde male. Rogue could probably also smell his best friends infatuation. However, as it stood now, Sting didn't release any pheromones. They were in a fight. The first clue should have been that Rogue took a mission on his own, which he never does and the second was the way Sting had snapped at him. 'What if Rogue found out how he felt?' Natsu questioned in his mind. 'What if that's why they're fighting!?' The questions grew. 'Could that happen to me and Lucy!?!?' He didn't want unreciprocated feelings to ruin anything, but looking at these two...gods...why did emotional things have to be this difficult? And this frustrating!? 'Priorities, Natsu!' He scolded himself. There's a dragon on the loose. He could worry about feelings later. One thing at a time.

"Guys!" Natsu interrupted the spat. "There's still a dragon on the loose."

"Fro thinks so, too!" The frog suit clad cat exclaimed.

"Yea," Rogue began, "what's the story with that?"

It was Lucy's turn to speak. "Mercenary Guild created a weapon, dragon was the weapon, it can drain magic too."

"Well that was concise." Rogue acknowledged. "Plan of action?" He asked following the curt style Lucy had set.

"No idea..." She looked around at her friends. "You and I are the only two with magic power. Us and the exceeds. The rest had theirs drained, I think."

"Yes, we are all out of magic energy, except Minerva unlocked Curse." Lucy's eyes widened at Rufus' statement, she turned to Minerva.

"Yes, I did." Minerva admitted. "But between blocking a Dragon Roar and warping everyone here it's almost gone... I can teleport maybe one more person, and that's about it."

Lucy looked towards Natsu, who was watching her intently, then at Rogue. "Okay. Then Rogue and I will go toe to toe with the Dragon in one last attempt. Happy and Frosch can bring us there and get us out." She turned towards Minerva. "And if anything goes really, really bad, then you can warp one of us out."

A thought flashed across Yukino's mind. "Wait! Three of us have magic power!" Everyone eyed her confused. "Lucy, use Corona!" 

"Oh! How could I forget about that!?" Who would be their best chance at winning? A Dragon Slayer, Natsu obviously. She looked at her pink haired friend while she pulled a silver key out of her pouch. "Natsu? Can I..." She was cut off.

"Do you even have to ask!? I was gonna grab that crown and shove it on my head anyway! I'm not letting you go alone! Not because I don't value your power, but because I want to fight along side you." A warm feeling bubbled up inside of her, his words touched her. 

She smiled. "Okay then. Open! Gate of the Crown! Corona!" A burst of light signaled the arrival of their fancy circular friend. 

"How can I help you, Lucy?" He beamed.

"Recharge Natsu's powers?" She ended her sentence in question form. 

"Abso..." He was cut off as Natsu strutted over, picking him up and placing him on his head.

"Do your thing, hat!" Natsu instructed.

"Kay!" Was all Corona said before he began to glow. Natsu felt almost all of his magic energy become fully restored. He knew that he just received as much magic energy as Lucy had in total, and he had no idea that she held this much.

"Alright! I feel great! Are we ready to go!?" He enthusiastically yelled at Rogue, Lucy, and the three Exceeds that would carry them.

"Remember." Minerva caught their attention. "I can only get ONE of you if you find yourselves in a tight spot. Try to stay clear of any...deleterious situations." 

"I'm sure we will do our best." Rogue said just as he caught Sting looking at him with a concerned expression. "Frosch?" He looked at his friend before the gender ambiguous cat sprouted wings and grabbed the back of his cloths. Lector doing the same for Lucy and Happy the same for Natsu.

Just as Rogue's body left the ground a warm hand wrapped itself around his own. "Wait." Sting said, not making eye contact. "Be safe." 

"Thanks." Was all rogue said before pulling his hand away from his friends. He flew a few feet before he had Frosch stop. Without turning around he spoke. "When I get back, can we talk?" 

A small, barely detectable, smile graced his lips. "Make it back, then we'll see."

Rogue nodded, an equally as secret smirk tugging at his lips. And with those words, the three humans and three Exceeds were off to once again face Motherpulse.


	18. End of the Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it, I changed both the title and the story description. I hope I didn't confuse anyone.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled at his friend over the roar of air rushing past them as they made there way back to Crocus, or what was left of it. 

"Ya?" She yelled matching his volume.

"Can you use dress up like Sagittarius again?" He inquired. That form of hers was a powerful one. After all, the ability to fire 50 magical arrows that home in on their target, never missing, and then explode. How was that power even fair in a fight? It wasn't, but then again neither was anyone's power on Team Natsu. She had finally grown to all of their levels.

"No, I've used it twice today already! It takes away his energy to give to mine!" She thought for a second. "Why?"

"The sooner we can attack, the better! And unless, you, Rogue, have any long range attacks then I guess that plan is scrapped!"

"Sorry, no." Rogue admitted. "Medium range at best."

"Fro's been learning to throw rocks! Can that help?" The pink exceed excitedly asked, eager to show off its new and improved throwing arm.

"Absolutely, Frosch. Just stay hidden, the Dragon is strong and I don't think Rogue would be too happy if you were to get hurt." Lector added.

With the speed they were currently going, the long range attack wouldn't make a difference. They could close the five mile gap between the cliffside and Crocus in 5 minutes with the Exceeds. And that's how long it took for them to reach the city. The Dragon, Motherpulse, was slowly trudging its way towards the palace, where an army of guards had positioned themselves as a last stand. Motherpulse would have already reached the castle if it wasn't for its master, who wanted Motherpulse to walk behind it while he pretentiously sauntered his way forwards. Most the city was in shambles, at least 25% and growing. Even when Motherpulse wasn't using magic, it's swaying tail was more enough to act as a wrecking ball for the buildings it touched. It wasn't as strong as Acnologia, but with its Magic sucking powers, it might as well be.

The Exceeds dropped their passengers in front of the guards, on the wide open street that Reaver was trailing down. 

"You're all still alive? Huh, well I give you credit. You are a persistent lot." Reaver's cloths had gone from pricy and disgustingly fancy to just tattered and worthless. However, that was the extent of his damage. Their previous effort left Reaver, himself, relatively and unbelievably unscathed. "Dragon Roar, now." He instructed.

Lucy was waiting for this. She had noticed that the constant small scale magic drain evolved into a massive scale when Motherpulse charged up the roar, collecting near all the ethernano for its beam of energy. If it couldn't get its mouth open, then it was unlikely it could instantly deplete their energy, they would have a chance. Without hesitation, Lucy whipped out a familiar Gold Key. "Open! Gate of the Ram, Aries!" She didn't even let the blistering golden light settle before she instructed her newly summoned friend. "Constricting Wool!"

Aries knew exactly where to aim her shot. "I'm soooooorrrryyyyy." She cried as she tossed copius amounts of pink fuzz at the target, trailing the words so they ended at the same time as her attack. The attack hit its mark, instantly binding Motherpulse's mouth before it could get out. 

"Awesome shot, Lucy!" Happy beamed.

"The credit goes to Aries." She turned towards her spirit friend. "Thank you, you can go." 

"Thank you. I'm sorry." Aries melted into millions of sparkling gold specs before those too vanished.

"Good one, Lucy! Now we can keep up our attacks until this is over!" Natsu praised his friend as did the cheering soldiers in the background. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu said cupping his hands over his mouth, fire erupting from them in a steady stream.

Rogue followed suite. "Shadow Dragon's Roar!" He cried, changing his stance to blow out a gust of darkness.

"You guys hide somewhere, just in case Motherpulse drains our magic. That way, you can still use yours and get us out of here." Lucy told the Exceeds as she dug through her leather pouch, pulling out two more Golden Keys. "Open! Gate of the Paired Fish, Pisces! Open! Gate of the Twins, Gemini." 

Lucy saw how Polaris' physicality won out against Motherpulse. Lucy could do the same. With her recent increase in Magic Power, her Spirits usually emerged instantly doing what Lucy wanted them to do, almost like they had a psychic link. This time, not only two monstrous fish emerged from the seal she held above her head, but four. She had Gemini copy them resulting in a quartet of massive, flying fish that could pummel anything in their path. All four headed to Motherpulse in tandem with the two accompanying Dragon Roars. This was it, Lucy could feel it.

Only, the attacks never hit. Instead as they became dangerously close, Reaver looked down, the shadows hiding his eyes and a smirk tugging at his face. "Pulse." All he had to do was say this one word before the all too familiar fluctuation of blue aura emitted from the Dragon. The same EMP that greeted Natsu, Happy, and Lucy when they had first arrived, the one that canceled almost all their magic power. The aura radiated outwards, washing over everyone in a massive radius, instantly draining their magic power. Both the Fire and Shadow Dragon Roars were dissipated and Pisces and Gemini were sent glowing back to the Celestial Spirit World as well as immediately destroying the wool constriction over its face. The Exceeds magic was also drained, but they had managed to hide, they were safe, just unable to rescue their friends.

"Shit!" Natsu yelled. "Lucy, Rogue! Run!" 

"Motherpulse," Reaver commanded the dragon a hopefully last time, "Dragon Roar." The massive beast began its charge up.

"It's no use!" Lucy stopped running. "We won't make it, not all of us anyways. Minerva can still get one of us out."

"Well who's it going to be?" Natsu asked, angry at the sudden and drastic change of events. "It won't be me! I'm staying, I'm not leaving one of you to die alone!" This was one of the reasons Lucy fell for him, his selfless attitude. Lucy knew she had to stay too, primarily because she couldn't live with herself if Natsu died while she survived. It was a stupid thing to do, die, but she had survived a direct blast from the monster with no injuries to show for it. Two, for that matter. Maybe she would be fine a third time and if Natsu was with her maybe he would be okay too. With her resolve in place she spoke up.

"I'll stay with Natsu." Rogue and Natsu went to argue but she cut them off. "Don't argue, I've lived this two times already, what's a third? Besides," she placed a hand on Rogue's cold shoulder, "You promised Sting you'd return, didn't you?" 

Rogue nodded, he was filled with disgust that he was going to leave his friends to die while he lived, but he had faith that if anyone could somehow survive, they would. He waived his arms in the air to signal Minerva. "I'm sorry. I really am. This is an impossible situation, good luck." He said as he was warped away. When he arrived back on the cliffside he was greeted by Sting who pulled Rogue's sitting body into a tight hug. He was crying, probably because their friends were about to be slaughtered. Tears also stained Minerva's features. She felt like she failed her friends. Her Curse was now completely dry and now Natsu and Lucy would pay the ultimate price for her lack of power.

\----------

"I guess this is it." Natsu turned to look at Lucy as Motherpulse was just about finished charging up its attack. Lucy didn't respond, instead tears only leaked their way down her face. Upon seeing hers, he noticed he was crying too. "It's been fun, though, hasn't it?" He tried to lighten the mood. Instead all Lucy did was turn away from Motherpulse and stare directly into Natsu's eyes. "Lucy?"

Instead if responding, she quickly leaned forward, mashing their mouths together in a last minute love confession.

\----------

'Alright,' Thorin stood up from behind the rubble he was hiding behind, 'every time I try to charge my magic, that stupid drain! This Dragon's become an issue, it's no longer your problem anymore.' He thought as he gazed towards the battle field and saw Lucy and her friend, kissing friend*, about to be killed by Motherpulse. Not just them, but damn near a whole army would also be wiped out by the blast. Thorin would save them just as he had been fortunate enough to save a decent amount of civilians from harm. He was the primary reason there was a severe lack of casualties after the first lethal blast he couldn't stop. The seal on the back of his left hand began to glow.

"Time to end this."


	19. The Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been my favorite chapter to write so far. Enjoy.

Natsu was expecting the kiss, and with their death's swiftly approaching, he wouldn't take away a last minute love confession from his closest friend. What Natsu wasn't expecting, however, was how the kiss made him feel.

Natsu had kissed Lisanna on a few occasions. The first time, they were 12 and had just found Happy. They got too far into playing 'house,' with Natsu as the dad and Lisanna as the mom. Kissing, was naturally a part of that. The second time was shortly before her 'death.' Elfman had refused Natsu's insistence on accompanying them on the mission, and before they left, Natsu pulled Lisanna aside and privately confessed his newly blossoming teenage feelings for her. They had ended up locking lips for a short while before Mira burst through the closet doors, grabbed Natsu's face and shoved him against the wall with her demon strength before snatching Lisanna's wrist and yanking her out of the small room. Of course, she had never returned from that mission. Natsu was as heartbroken as someone without a full comprehension of love could be. He didn't show any interest in anyone for the next two years until he encountered a boisterous blonde at Hargeon. He had slowly begun to fall for Lucy, after all who wouldn't? But then, Lisanna had returned from the dead. Her return had resurfaced so many feelings, and with his interest in Lucy as well as Lisanna, Natsu was confused. Beyond confused. All he knew, for sure, was the heartache he felt upon loosing his white haired friend. Now, with two love interests, he had double the chance of feeling those horrendous feelings all over again. Especially, so, with how dangerous things had become. So he decided to choose just one, he knew it was a stupid decision, you can't turn off how you feel, but you can try. Lisanna was Natsu's colorful childhood friend while Lucy was his current teammate. He chose the more familiar path. His developing feelings were unfairly shoved aside and Lucy was unknowingly friend-zoned. The return of Lisanna also marked their third kiss, after having been separated for so long, Natsu thinking she was dead, Lisanna believing she would never see her Natsu again, they kissed, passionately. Passionately. It was a word Natsu thought he knew, up until now.

This kiss, though, the one he was currently sharing with with his best friend... Well... Natsu couldn't put it into words. This kiss brought with it so much in such a small action. As Lucy molded their lips together she conveyed every ounce of emotion she was feeling. The kiss was sloppy, showing Natsu that Lucy was rather inexperienced in this department, there was a high chance that this was her first kiss. Forceful, every ounce of longing and desire on Lucy's end was poured into his mouth through her plump lips. Rushed, there was a clear sense of urgency, like this was something she had to do before she died, the one thing on her bucket list. The kiss clearly showed Natsu just how highly she cared for him and with that Natsu pressed his body flat against her's, snaking one arm around her waist. The other arm was lifted, placing his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Lucy took the opportunity to place one of her hands on the small of his back and the other on his exposed bicep. Then the two added tongues. Raspberries. The scent of Lucy's pheromones were now running rampant, Natsu could feel his pants getting tighter. If kissing Lisanna was great, then kissing Lucy was... Once again words couldn't do justice. Amazing? Blissful? Perfect? Passionately. This was the actual definition of passion. In fact, Natsu became so entranced in the kiss he didn't even notice Lucy's small cry as he slightly pulled his lips back, capturing Lucy's lower lip between his teeth and subconsciously sinking his canines into the tender flesh. 

A small sequel escaped Lucy's lips as his fangs tore skin. She could taste blood, and likely, so could he, but they would worry about that later. Nothing would come of two small punctures. However, even with the lacerations, Lucy was having one of, if not the best experiences of her life. Between no magic and a dragon roar on its way, kissing Natsu and adrenaline pumping, this was the most exciting and stimulating feeling she had ever felt. She was apprehensive at first, Natsu could pull away after all. She had wanted this for so long, it would be heartbreaking if he did. But once Natsu flushed their bodies together and wrapped his arms around her, she knew he wasn't going to retreat. She would at least die in bliss. 

With the humming sound of copious amounts ethernano being consumed, the Dragon Roar was fully charged. Motherpulse looked directly at the kissing couple before it released the beam of energy. 

Lucy pulled away first. "I love you, Natsu." She confessed.

"I love you too." It wasn't strictly a lie, he did love her, but currently as family. He didn't need to specify what kind of love, he wasn't about to break her heart before she died. Natsu wished he had more time to figure out the feelings between him and the girl in his arms. They rested their foreheads against each other and stated into each other's eyes, before closing them, awaiting the blast that would end their lives. Only, it never came. 

Instead only a new low humming pitch emanated from behind them. The near eternal time it already felt like they had began kissing seemed to even further slow to a crawl as the light from the Dragon Roar warped around them. The attack was somehow blocked, but who still had magic power? A sudden pressure, someone's magical pressure, enveloped Lucy. She knew by the way Natsu tensed that he had felt it too. Was this Motherpulse? No, it was too strong, almost as if Gildarts was near. Lucy opened her eyes only to see a somehow familiar figure walk past Natsu, the low hum growing into a low pitch. 

With a wave of the strange man's arms, the attack completely dissipated, the light from the beam fading. Lucy and Natsu looked towards the person who had saved them. She had met this man before. 

"Who are you?" She called over the buzz of his magic pressure.

The man turned his head slightly, just enough so Lucy could vaguely see his profile and just enough so Thorin could make out Lucy in the corner of his periphery before he spoke. "Why Lucy," he said in a suave voice, "don't you remember? I'm the man of your dreams."

He was smooth, she would give him that. Dreams? They started coming back to her. An underwater meadow, vast, lush, expansive. Magical Playground! She remembered the name. This man's name was on the tip of her tongue.... T... Th.. They talked about a powerful guild, that explains his magic power. She noticed the spiraled glowing 'S' on the back of his outstretched arm. Suberashi! She remembered that part too. What was his name? Tho... Yes! Those were the first three letters. Thor.... She got it! That had to be it.

"Thorn!" Lucy yelled, albeit erroneously, glad to see her dream friend once again.

\----------

"They're okay!" Yukino exclaimed with damp eyes. The bawling had started the moment Natsu and Lucy had decided to stay in order to let Rogue, the man she had feelings for, live. 

"Yea! That's a relief!" Sting exclaimed also wiping newly forming tears from his now damp eyes. "But who is that guy that saved them? I can feel his magic pressure from here!" He turned his gaze towards his friends, not expecting them to know, however two of his companions were at visible unease. Orga was twitching, determination lining his features. That wasn't unusual, especially since Orga wanted to win the fight just as bad as they did, however it just seemed....off. Minerva was just as out of place, while Orga was twitching, Minerva was shaking, panic wrought across her face. "Minerva? What's wrong?" Sting inquired.

"I.." She stammered. "My time as an Etherious, a demon, you could feel things..." She still didn't know how to form a coherent sentence. "His power... If I was a demon... Then that... Him... It's fully divine."

"A god." Orga specified in disbelief.


	20. Confrontation: Dragon and God

"Thorin, actually." Thorin corrected Lucy for the second time now. "Is this déjà vu?" 

"Seems like it!" Lucy beamed, smiling like an idiot. She had now survived three blasts from the dragon, the person who saved them was someone she had been subconsciously wanting to see again, and she finally told her best friend how she felt about him. She was actually still a little nervous and apprehensive about the last reason for her overwhelming and sudden happiness, but the hand wrapped around her own quelled her insecurities. She stepped forward to get closer to the man who saved them. She still felt at ease around him. Even despite the odd pressure surrounding his magic she felt a sense of comfort and trust. She stepped forward to get closer but the warm hand around her own tightened in restraint.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned. "Let go."

Natsu didn't answer, instead only holding tighter onto the blond through their current physical connection. He was eying Thorin with a surprising intensity, who was facing away from them towards Motherpulse and Reaver, who seemed shocked at the sudden development. Lucy wondered why he was acting so strange, so overprotective. As she traced the small puncture wounds in her mouth with her tongue she spoke once again in an attempt to snap Natsu out of his current state. "Natsu?"

"Who is this guy?" He seethed, was he jealous?

"A friend, you can trust him." Natsu's grip didn't let up. "I trust him, and you believe in me, don't you?"

Natsu turned his gaze away from Lucy in thought. He briefly considered her words before his crushing grip let up. "Thank you." Lucy said before she walked forward standing by Thorin. She began to stare at him. He was definitely handsome, one of, if not, the most handsome men she had ever seen. She loved Natsu, but his face was still boyish, cute. Handsome implied a certain maturity which she had no doubt Natsu would reach with time. Thorin had brown, wavy, medium length brown hair and matching color light stubble. His profile was full of strong features and.....

"Can I help you?" Thorin asked cutting off Lucy's train of thought shifting his gaze to look at her. Crap, he had caught her stating at him. 

"Sorry...I, uh, no...sorry." Crap, when did she start acting like Aries. Maybe it was the magic pressure he was exerting that made her act fuzzy. She didn't know, but she might as well ask. "Can I ask what your magic is? You never said before..."

"PpSI/A." He smirked. "The backslash is silent."

"That doesn't clarify a whole lot." Lucy eyed him with further curiosity.

"Pounds per square inch over area. I can change the weight or pressure of an object."

"That's cool! So how did you stop that blast? And how do you still have this much magic?"

"I get that you like talking and all, I do too, but right now there's a Dragon in front of us that needs to be stopped."

"Right! Let's do it! Natsu! You ready!?" She turned eagerly to her pinkette friend.

"Ya! Let's do it!" He spoke for the first time in the conversation.

"No, this is no longer your fight." He looked off into the distance and nodded. 'What was he doing?' Lucy thought before she was suddenly looking at Crocus from the all too familiar spot on the cliffside.

"What the!?"

\----------

"A god!?" Sting yelled in question. 

"I'm positive." Orga said. "I've never wanted to fight anything more in my life. It's like his entire being is calling to my magic."

"Now this is interesting." Rufus added. "I can't wait to memorize him."

"But...a god!?" Sting questioned again. "I thought they were just lore? And even if they were real they should be extinct, right?"

"Obviously not." Was all Minerva said. She had slowly been collecting Ethernano from the surrounding environment and now had enough to retrieve her friends. "I've collected enough magic to grab the cats and Natsu and Lucy. Although, Lucy is talking to him, I'll hold off a little longer." Her magic, Territory, allowed her spacial manipulation of any object within her line of sight, with it, she also got excellent vision as could clearly see what was transporting between the God and the Celestial Spirit Mage. However, as she was looking, the god suddenly looked at her, making direct eye contact, hazel meeting black, before he nodded. He must have wanted her to use territory. So with a wave of her hand Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Lector, and Frosch materialized in front of her. 

"What the!" Lucy yelled.

"Sorry, but he told me to get you all out of there, I could feel it." Minerva said.

\----------

Back on the battle field, Thorin now faced Reaver and his pet. He still held the mentality that the pet was not to blame. Reaver was controlling it, after all, that's exactly what he created it for. It would be unfair and immoral to kill the Dragon before it had a chance at freedom, a chance to truly live. Reaver, on the other hand, was guilty. A large amount of people would consider it immoral to kill him, but not so much to Thorin. Thorin was a man who cringed if a snail got squished, an innocent creature dying at the foot of a larger creature. Key word, innocent, he cringed if they were innocent. Reaver was not. He had cloned something back from extinction, caused a fair number of casualties as well as destroy a large part of Crocus, and lastly, he was now attempting to wage war against mages. Unforgivable.

"You've definitely piqued my interest. We are similar after all, the last of our kind."

"Well I'm glad I interest you. Who wouldn't be fascinated by me?" The all too familiar pompous voice of Reaver responded.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was speaking to the Dragon. You're worthless." Thorin disregarded him with a simple tone.

Reaver became angry at the lack of attention. "Why you...It's taken the efforts of 7 Mages to get this far! They've been useless! What makes you think that you, one single Mage, can make a difference!? Motherpulse will only get stronger and then no one will be able to stop me. My plan will prevail! I will crush you! I will crush all Mages! I will..........." Reaver wasn't able to complete his sentence before his head literally exploded at the snap of Thorin's fingers, his body crumbling lifeless to the ground.

"Oh my god, that was so much talking." Thorin looked at the dragon who now had an entirely different demeanor. When Reaver was alive, the Dragon seemed almost humbled by Reaver, like its spirit was broken and bonded solely to orders. Now, a sense of untamed rampancy graced the dragons, Motherpulse's, features. Thorin had no doubt he would have to fight the beast into submission, relocate it, then free it where it could grow without interference. But first came the submission and the battle that would likely prelude that. The last Dragon vs the last God, to the best of Thorin's knowledge. This would be a large scale battle. Good thing Crocus was already in need of repair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if you like it or want something specific to happen drop me a review!


	21. Thorin vs the Dragon

"He's a god?" Lucy questioned as her friends filled her in on key aspects she was oblivious too. 

"From what I'm feeling, yes Lucy-sama." Orga told her. "I don't know how, or why I know, but I just do."

Sting, who was still standing unconsciously close to Rogue, to the point their shoulders were bumping spoke up next. "Lucy, who is he?" He asked, secretly reveling in the fact Rogue wasn't pulling away, like before...

"He's a friend. I think. His name is Thorin. We spoke a little earlier." She didn't need to tell her friends where he was from...or why he was here. 

"When did you speak with him, Lucy?" Happy questioned. "I was with you all day!"

"Well, remember when I was unconscious, he appeared in my dreams and we talked. I didn't remember the dream up until I actually saw him in person." At this point she was starting to sweat due to the incredible closeness that was the fire dragon slayer. He had positioned himself just as close, if not closer, to Lucy than Sting did to Rogue. Lucy continued. "What even is a god anyway? He isn't like Ankhseram, is he?"

Orga did his best to answer. "From what little I know, they're similar, not the same. Ankhseram is a god almost like Deliora is an Etherious. Somewhat unfathomable and far far removed from humanity. Thorin, down there, is a god but more like Mard Geer is an Etherious, more human, so to speak. I'm not explaining it well. I don't have full knowledge on what he is, but what I do know is this. As you know, magic wasn't always around. Magic, as well as Curses," he turned to Minerva, "were born from the birth and evolution of the 'One Magic.' Before the 'One Magic,' there was a group of people who had ironclad and indomitable wills, in fact, their wills were so strong they could use it to shape the environment around them, these were the gods. Mages use Magic, Demons use Curse, and Gods use Will."

"So Thorin is... He's been around for a while..."

"Yes, like an Etherious, he won't die unless it's from unnatural causes or unless he looses his will to live. Take to heart that what I told you is only what I heard. It's just as legend as your friend down there. He could paint a much clearer picture for us, if he survives this fight. But what do I know, I thought they were extinct, killed off, but seeing him now proves that wrong."

"Thorin," Lucy said quietly, "who on earthland are you?" 

They all turned to watch the impending fight as Minerva opened a small window for them all to get a closer look.

\----------

Neither Thorin nor Motherpulse wasted any time starting the fight. Thorin shot his right arm forward, palm facing Motherpulse and ring finger bent downwards, before he yelled. "Pressure Damage!" just as the reoccurring dragon roar escaped forward from the dragons gaping mouth.

The light blue beam from the dragon and the invisible stream of pressure met in the center of the two, forming a massive explosion that signaled the start of the cataclysm that the two entities were sure to cause. "Ugh." Thorin grunted as the shock wave from their connecting attacks slammed into him, throwing him back a few feet. Upon landing he immediately got to his feet and waved his arm harshly in front of him, like a backhand. "Pressure Tsunami."  
Like before, an invisible wave of concentrated energy inched its way closer to Motherpulse, who was lifted off its legs and thrown back at the attack. And not just thrown back a little, the force of the attack literally washed the dragon from the castle gates halfway to those of the entrance. Thorin started running after the beast to close the distance.

"Should have thought that out better, I hate running." He said as a blue glint appeared on top of Motherpulse's maw followed by an all too familiar blast. Thorin jumped forward and held both his arms outstretched towards his sides. "Pressure Differentiation!" He said as the attack hit an invisible barrier of highly compressed air, causing it to spoon effect left, right, and up. There was no way people from other cities weren't either hearing this or seeing this. 

As the attack stopped Thorin closed more distance as did the dragon, who upon getting close enough, swung its tail like a wrecking ball at Thorin. Noticing the lethal pendulum, Thorin waved his left arm upwards in a slash, "Pressure Blade." He said as a shock wave rebounded the tail in the opposite direction. Thorin then held out his right arm and snapped his fingers which caused the wailing limb to crash into the ground, far heavier than it was a moment ago. "Weight Change." He had increased weight of the tail to that of a point where the dragons muscles couldn't move it.

With the Dragon helplessly tethered to the ground by the weight of its own tail Thorin took the momentary immobility to cast another spell. He clapped his arms together in front of him and strained for a brief moment before separating his outward arms and letting out a struggling grunt. "Thousand Lashes!" Nothing happened, until everything did. After a brief second of waiting, everything in a 270 degree arc was hit with thousands of high pressure micro blades, causing everything to be demolished. Buildings, shops, homes, cafés, once the shock wave hit they were eradicated by invisible whips of pressure, the aftermath causing dust to rise from the crumbled buildings. The attack hit Motherpulse, who let out a pained cry at the multitude of hits, though, Thorin actually used the attack to clear room for his next attack. 

Motherpulse charged up another Dragon Roar, only for Thorin to snap his fingered in another weight change, causing the Dragon's head to crash to the floor. It was pinned.

"It's time to end this, good fight though." Thorin extended his arms, crossing them at the wrist, before a a small foot diameter magic seal formed ten feet from him. Then another. Then another. Then another. It a mere matter of seconds, hundreds of small magic seals had exponentially filled the ground in front of Thorin. It had become a minefield of small red magic circles that surrounded the dragon in a wide area of effect. "Pressure Release: Gaia Baptism." He said as the circles began to spin and glow with an all too familiar hum. Not a second later, every single seal let out a white beam of energy. Each separate beam quickly merged, creating a massively thick pillar of light that extended onto the heavens. This attack was one of Thorin's ultimates, just this had as much power as Lucy's Gottfied, and it only took one person to cast. Thorin had released all the earths bottled up pressure in one devastating attack. He, as well as everyone else, could hear the Dragons pained cries. And the, the light stopped. As did the cries. But no one could predict what they saw next. The dragon was gone, a small 7 foot pale blue orb of light being the only thing remaining.

Curious, Thorin approached the mysterious object. It was the same color as Motherpulse's dragon roar, and it was emitting a small amount of energy. "What on earthland?" Thorin asked as he circled it once, twice, three times and he still didn't know what he was looking at. Finally he decided to touch it, and just as his finger graced the smooth, cool, silky surface a crack appeared, and then more, and more. 'It's like it's hatching...' Thorin thought as an enormous amount of energy and light escaped from the 'egg,' shattering the 'shell' and knocking Thorin backwards. Thorin stood, rubbing his eyes clear of the blinding light, and once he regained his sight he gasped. In front of his was a human, or at least it looked human. He was tall, black, slicked back hair, sharp features like that friend of Lucy's. Red eyes. Pale skin, like moonlight, and he was wearing a dark gray tattered shirt and tattered pants. Before Thorin could take in every detail, or even begin to ask questions, the man spoke.

"My last form was so...cumbersome. This one is...." The dark haired man lifted up his hand, inspecting both sides in wonder, "....more efficient." He looked directly at Thorin, a wave of unease washing over him. "How can the fight be over, when I've only just evolved?"

Thorin's almond eyes widened at the words of the man before him. "Motherpulse?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reviews and kudos, and even a few bookmarks! Like I said before, if you like the story, hate the story, or think it needs improvement, just leave a comment! I'm totally open to suggestions.


	22. An Even Larger Threat

The surveying Fairies and Sabretoothians(?) were watching in bewilderment. First a synthesized dragon shows up from a dark/independent mercenary guild, crowned with a magic sucking device left over from one of Zeref's projects. Then a god, interested in Lucy and quite possibly hundreds of years old, shows up and battles said dragon, which then continues to evolve into a human. Well, if Acnologia could freely change forms, they was no saying others couldn't. And now they didn't seem to be doing anything other than talking to each other. Only in Fairy Tail.

All they could do now was chat amongst themselves until the battle between Dragon and God either ended peacefully or resumed its cataclysm. Teammates left and right were throwing questions to Orga, thinking he knew all the answers despite him constantly saying he only knew legend, and the only people that weren't busy talking were the four that were too caught up in their own thoughts. Lucy, Natsu, Sting, and Rogue. And each was thinking similar things, feelings. 

Lucy was currently in a emotional elation. She, in the face of death, took a chance with Natsu. And if his current proximity mixed with his 'I love you' was any indicator, he wasn't rejecting her. This had been something she had wanted for so long, and she almost had it. She knew she would have to clarify things later, specify what they were, if they were anything other than teammates. But hey, now was good enough for Lucy, and nothing else eventful was happening other than inaccurate small talk. She turned to Natsu. "Hey."

Natsu's head was in a similar place. Only he was much more confused. Up until an hour ago he had done an amazing job of keeping Lucy in the friend zone, and now, with her kiss, Lisanna was the one pushed entirely out of his mind. He couldn't ignore the sudden overwhelming pull he felt to the blonde next to him, and he couldn't explain why it was suddenly happening. He just knew was he was probably way to close to Lucy, their exposed shoulders touching and the back of their hands occasionally brushing past each other. He was doing exactly what Lucy was constantly doing to him. All he wanted to do was grab her and kiss her violently again, possess her, own her, probably more, and if this was how Lucy had felt all this time, sneaking small touches to curb her desires, then he felt truly sorry for it. He could barely stand not directly touching her for the 15 minutes since the kiss, he had know idea how that equated to her three years of longing. And then Natsu realized, he never felt this way about Lisanna. She was comforting, and kind, and he was attracted to her. But none of those qualities held a candle to the girl currently calling his name. "Hey."

"Hey." He responded quietly, knowing in one word that what they were saying was private. She snaked her hand around his own and he squeezed it back. 

"Can we go talk?"

With a nod from Natsu, they escaped from their chattering friends to go somewhere private.

\----------

Sting was having mixed thoughts himself. Rogue had said he wanted to talk. That was either really good or really bad. 

While Stings feelings for his best friend had been around for a while, it was one month ago that things went south. Way, way, way to south and not in the way Sting wanted. Sex pun. Stings feelings for Rogue were remarkably close to Lucy's feelings for Natsu, and his attraction to Lucy was like that of Natsu's to Lisanna. He, unlike Natsu, knew exactly how he felt. One was a nice idea, no one, not even Sting, could argue that Himself and Lucy would make an adorable couple. Both attractive, both blonde, bright eyed, good features, their children would be gorgeous. But that was the only attraction of the situation, it couldn't compare to how much he loved Rogue. There was so much attraction, so much lust, that he had to constantly hide his true self in fear of rejection. However, over time, Sting found himself doing anything, everything, that would make his dark haired friend happy. He had sacrificed so much and exalted Rogue and his needs so high above that of his own, to the point it was truly unhealthy. When he realized just how disfunctional it actually was, Sting decided he had to come clean to Rogue. If Rogue accepted him, in any way, Sting would be in bliss, enveloped in happiness. But, if he was turned down... Well, he e was already hurting, a rejection wouldn't make much of a difference. So after building up courage, which took a decent amount, Sting found himself walking to the Rogue's house, where he would most likely find his Shadow Dragon friend. It was far away, the perfectly secluded and quiet place that Rogue tended to be drawn to.

Nearing the door, he heard heavy breathing. Ignoring the panting as a sign of a good workout he reached the door. With an intensely besting heart, he wrapped his shaking hand around the knob and pushed.

"Rogue, there's something I need to tell you. I..." He froze the second he saw his best friend on top of his other best friend, Yukino. Both equally as naked, equally as sweaty, and equally as surprised at the sudden interruption. That's when the overwhelming scent of sex found its way into Sting's sensitive nose. Between the tsunami of pheromones and sweat and his own wave of emotions, he began to violently and uncharacteristically break into tears. He quickly wiped the oncoming downpour and managed to stammer a quick "I'm sorry," before he full on sprinted out of his friends housed and he didn't stop until he reached his Guild. Quickly making his way over to the job board he grabbed the first S-Class mission he saw. He didn't car what it was, he just needed to get out of here. With eyes still red and burning from his emotional breakdown he slammed the paper on the counter, allowing their Guild's 'drawing card' to add it to the quest log. 

"Um..." She spoke up. "Guild Masters don't typically do jobs...."

"Key word: typically." Sting angrily spewed before turning heel and heading out the door. He knew he was rude to her, he would have to apologize later, but the sudden appearance of two exceeds took him away from those thoughts.

"Heya, Sting!" Lector yelled. "Are we going on a job?" The brown cat asked before he saw his friends newly redden eyes. "Sting, are you crying?"

"Fro thinks so, too!"

"Onions." He answered simply, wiping freshly forming tears from his eyes, seriously, couldn't everyone just leave him alone. "I'm going solo, sorry." He said pushing past his animal friends and barging through the large Guild doors, only to be greeted by the same person he was running from. 

"Sting!" Rogue exclaimed as the former literally crashed into him. Rogue was shirtless and only had on a pair of dark navy sweat pants. He obviously stopped whatever, no, whoever, he was doing to chase after his friend. "Sting, I'm sorry. I had no idea you even liked her!" He apologized which caused the blond to develop even more tears.

"I don't like Yukino!!" He yelled, revealing too much.

"Then...that means...you...like..." Rogues eyes widened in realization, and with those words, Sting quickly stood up and began to run, distancing himself from his problems. He knew he would have to face them eventually, but there was only relief in procrastination. 

When Sting had returned, he was richer in money but not in spirit. He has spent most the mission in a depressive slump and in a fog of sadness. He had expected to see his guild mates look down on him, rejection plastered on all their faces. Sabertooth wasn't as open as some other guilds, namely Fairy Tail, and he knew some people still held hidebound feelings towards homosexuality. Luckily, no one even batted an eye upon his return, unluckily, neither did Rogue. And from that point, up until now, Rogue had ignored Sting. But now he wanted to talk, hopefully to fix things and not to tell Sting off one final time.

Upon seeing Lucy and Natsu sneak off together, Sting decided to follow suite. "Um Rogue." Said man turned to look at his friend, facial emotions unchanging. "You're back..." Sting muttered shyly, a quick smile couldn't help itself from spreading.

"You're right, can we talk now?"

"I wouldn't want to wait another second." Sting replied before they too walked away from the remaining chatting group.

\----------

"Motherpulse?" Thorin questioned as shock coursed through his veins.

Motherpulse began laughing. He was young, maybe 17-18? But who knew how dragon years and human years correlated. Hell, who knew a dragon could 'evolve' into a human. "Couple of things." the draconian boy said still laughing. "We have to find me a new name. I'm not a mother, just call me...Pulse, I guess." He looked to the ground seemingly sad he didn't have a name of his own. 

"Okay." Thorin started. "So... Now what happens?" He asked still at unease. Although their fight was brief they still left a large amount of destruction in the wake. If they went at it again, Thorin didn't know if Crocus would be left standing. 

"What do you mean?" The boy asked innocently. 

"You said how the fight isn't over due to your evolution. Do you still plan on rampaging?"

Pulse looked around the environment, seemingly searching for an answer. What the hell was going on? A quick change in his demeanor signaled the extension of his arm and an immense build up of magic. He was preparing an attack, and a powerful one at that. But even while preparing the attack he didn't stop looking around, confusion painting his features. Eventually the attack completely dissipated, and that's when Pulse spoke. "Honestly, part of me still wants to. Like I'm being pulled to fight, to destroy. But looking around and seeing all the chaos I've already caused... I feel sick." He admitted crashing into a seated position. Thorin wasn't about to correct him by revealing it was actually himself who had caused this area of rubble...

Thorin approached the kid. "Them there's you're answer, and the reason I'm not going to kill you." He said as he took a seat next to Pulse. "It was your upbringing to fight, to destroy, but your nature compels you otherwise. I can see it inside you. You're a good person." Thorin rethought his words. "Good Dragon?"

"Good weapon." He looked down in reminisced disappointment.

Thorin could tell it wasn't just an analogy. "What do you mean? Weapon?"

"I only remember a little. I was once human, I think. I remember a family, a mother, a father, all dead now. Then I remember the experiments. Ruthless, painful, horrible. They wanted to turn me into a dragon, splice me with some leftover DNA. Built to be a weapon." 

Thorin could tell his memories weren't all there. He was curious and Pulse seemed to notice that feature on his face. "Then one day I was a dragon. I only have my memory from that time."

"But you remember your family, the experiments..."

"They're more like dreams, nightmares." Pulse paused for a second, thinking of his next words. "Actually, I can only remember back two years."

Thorin's eyes snapped open and he lunged at Pulse before grabbing him by the arms and looking straight into his eyes with a harsh intensity, faces inches from each other. "What exactly did you just say?!"

Pulse went to answer before his sensitive hearing picked up an unusual sound off in the distance. Guttural scraping. He could tell Thorin had heard it to by the was he distractedly let go of Pulse, both males now looking off into the distance and up into the sky, awaiting the sound to replay itself. Then it sounded again, the sound of scraping metal, only organic and far closer this time, causing goosebumps to trace themselves on Thorin. Then he felt it, magical pressure hitting him like a car. Old, powerful, evil. He turned to Pulse. "We have to get out of here." He stood up looking back down at Pulse. "Now!" 

\----------

"What is that?" Sting asked when the sound interrupted his conversation.

"I don't know." Rogue responded. "It's...."

"Familiar."

\----------

Elsewhere Natsu and Lucy heard the same thing.

"Lucy..." Natsu said looking off into the sky, fear painting itself on his face, a feature rarely seen in the fire dragon slayer.

"I know..." She said equally as uncomfortable.

"It can't be?"

Lucy's gaze surveyed the sky, looking for what she hoped she would never find. "Acnologia."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit to get this one out, luckily it's a bit longer and hopefully the next few will be also. Thanks for reading!


	23. Demons, Dragons, and Gods

Sting and Rogue quietly made their way away from the group and after going a fairly large distance Rogue spoke up. "Is here good?"

"'s fine." Sting mumbled looking away from Rogue, the fear of rejection still at the top of his mind. During the walk over Sting had kept his hands inside his pockets, afraid he couldn't trust himself to not try to latch on to Rogue's. He was pathetic...

"Sting," Rogue started slowly, "I think its best for you to start this conversation, because I still don't fully know what's going on." Rogue said causing Sting to lash out.

"You still don't know!? I thought it was pretty obvious what was going on when you found out I loved you." Sting admitted causing Rogues eyes to go wide.

"You...loved me?" His eyes went wide noticing Sting had used the past tense. "Do you not still...you know...love me?" He honestly wanted to know.

Sting shook his head. "I know I shouldn't, I know it's never going to lead anywhere and all I feel is hurt when it comes to you." Sting finally looked at Rogue. "But I can't stop, and for what it's worth, I love you, and probably always will." Rogue could see the tears coming to his friends eyes. He honestly didn't know what to say and he had no idea that Sting's feelings ran this deep.

"How long?" He inquired.

Sting wiped his eyes before responding, "I don't know, I've never measured, about 7 inches?" Sting said cluelessly

"What!? No! I meant how long have you loved me?" Rogue clarified slightly impressed at his endowed friend.

"Oh." Sting thought for a minute before answering. "I can't remember a time where I didn't. Since we've met, you've been everything to me." Rogue was stunned but kept listening as Sting decided to tell his story. "I think I was 15 when I realized I was attracted to you, but I knew it ran a bit deeper than just attraction. I started always thinking about you, and always dreaming about you and fantasizing about things I knew I'd never hear you say to me." Rogue was saddened that this had been going on since they had first met but he never even had the slightest clue. "Then finally the hurt and pain of unrequitedness became too unbearable so I decided to tell you." Sting swallowed hard, the next part still being difficult for him. "Then I accidentally walked in on you and Yukino and my heart broke." He said, tears in free fall at this point. He had taken a sitting position on a large rock and was now covering his face with his arm. "You found out how I felt and I skipped town, and when I came back, you just ignored me, I was crushed." He kept sobbing even as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him in comfort.

"I wasn't ignoring, you, Sting. I thought you would approach me when you wanted to talk about things. I thought you were ignoring me and it was killing me too!" Sting's crying seemed to quiet down before he looked at the man who held him.

"I didn't want to approach you because I was afraid I'd scared you away." He admitted. "I guess we are both a couple of idiots."

"Yup, we are." Rogue agreed leaning them both back so they were now laying down on the rock, Sting's head on his chest. Rogue took a deep breath to admit the next part. "I broke up with Yukino."

"You were dating? What? Why did you break up with her?" He demanded, confused by the revelation.

"Because if I didn't I would have lost you. And I didn't want that to happen because, Sting Eucliffe, I love you too."

Sting choked at the revelation. "You love me?"

"Yes, we've been together all our lives, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you." Rogue looked in the opposite direction. "But that being said it's always been familial love... I don't know if I'm attracted to you, or any guy for that matter. A love confession can't change sexuality."

"There it is." Sting said, "The rejection." He smiled. "Although it does hurt way less this time than a month ago."

"You didn't let me finish idiot." Rogue said before bringing his lips crashing down upon Sting's, the latter male's eyes widening in surprise before slowly closing in bliss. After a minute Rogue pulled away and continued with a grin. "Just because a love confession can't change sexuality doesn't mean we can't give things a try. Sting, will you go out with me?" 

Still shocked Sting spoke up. "Rogue, I can't ask you to do that..." He knew on the inside that 'giving things a try' could end badly, hurting him further.

"You're not asking, I am." He reassured. "Besides, I really enjoyed the kiss."

Sting smiled, but he was still unsure. "But you might not like stuff if we go...further." Sting said truly believing that sex was a big part of a relationship. And even if they were dating, no sex would feel like torture to Sting.

"Well then." Rogue said before violently repositioning himself on top of Sting, their upper bodies pressed together at every inch while Sting's legs were wrapped around Rogue's waist, both eying each other carnally, their now heated breath fogging up the cool night air. "Why don't we find out?" Rogue asked before their lips reconnected in a passionate embrace. The fornicating duo managed to eagerly rip off each others shirts before both violently broke the kiss. A loud echo reverberating through the sky.

"What is that?" Sting asked when the sound interrupted his 'conversation.'

"I don't know." Rogue responded. "It's...."

"Familiar."

\----------

With Natsu's hand wrapped around her own, the duo snuck off to talk about the kiss. Once Natsu noticed he could no longer hear the others, he knew their conversation would be out of earshot for the other sound sensitive Dragon Slayer. Not that either really cared if someone overheard.

"Natsu? How far are we going?" The tired Celestial Spirit Mage complained. 

He stopped walking before turning around with a blush on his face. "Here is good I guess." He reached behind his head to rub the base of his neck. "So, uh, we both kinda did some stuff and said some stuff." He said taking a seat on the rocky terrain.

Lucy walked over to him and seated herself on his right. "Yea, we did." She said suddenly taking an immense interest in her cuticles in order to look nonchalant.

"I haven't been able to get that kiss out of my mind!" Natsu blurted unable to contain his conflicting emotions any longer. He was still viewing his own emotions as crap due to how fleeting, ephemeral, and quick changing they seemed to be. How could he have one mindset for so long and then immediately change it due to one kiss? It didn't make sense to him why he felt so bonded to the blonde all of a sudden, and he wanted to take time to figure it all out before he hurt Lucy. But he knew secrets only ended up hurting people, he needed to be open an honest with her if he wanted to figure anything out. "Seriously, Lucy, I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm so confused." He said thrusting his head into his hands as if he had a headache.

"What's bothering you?" Lucy asked, reached behind Natsu to comfortingly rub his back.

"I want to tell you, but I don't want to. I don't know!" He yelled, "I just don't want to unintentionally hurt you again."

"Again?" Lucy questioned.

"When I accidentally called you 'support?'" He clarified.

A warm glow tugged at her heart, he was still upset over something she had already forgotten. That was beyond sweet and at this point she knew Natsu would never try hurt her on purpose. Now, all she wanted to do was help him deal with whatever was conflicting his mind right now. "Oh. That. Natsu, I promise you won't hurt me by telling me anything, I'm hurting right now seeing you like this, so please, tell me." She said sweetly as she wrapped her other arm around him, hugging him from the side, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

Natsu took a shaky breath before he spoke up. "Okay, I honestly didn't have feelings for you up until you kissed me."

"Okay, but why is that bothering you?"

"Because I didn't have any interest in you before it!" He yelled probably too harshly, causing Lucy to sit upright. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's fine, go on.." She urged keeping true to her promise to not get mad.

"I don't know, I liked you when we first met, but I didn't want to get attached romantically to you and loose you like with Lisanna." He admitted. "So I pushed any romantic thoughts of you out of my mind."

"Do you still like Lisanna?"

"Yes. No! I don't know anymore." He said gravely. "Since that kiss all I've felt is an overwhelming pull towards you. In fact, it's taking all of my willpower to not kiss you right now...or even more.." He admitted.

Lucy only looked at Natsu, a blush on her face, before she leaned forward and once again captured his lips. He moaned into the kiss before he broke away. "No, you kissed me the first time, I want to start this one!" She giggled at how simply cute he was before he pressed forward this time kissing her with lustful and wanton moans being swallowed by the other. When they broke the kiss a second time Natsu spoke up still conflicted. "Doesn't this devalue my feelings?" He asked curious as to what she would say.

"Devalued? How so?"

"I liked you, threw that away when Lisanna returned, then threw that out when you kissed me. I feel like my feelings are cheap, that you and her deserve better than some idiot that doesn't have a clear grasp on his emotions."

"They're not cheap, Natsu." She reassured. "Of everyone I've met, your feelings are the truest. You can't help how you feel, no one can. The fact that you're so conflicted only speaks of how strong they are." She took a deep breath for this next part. "That being said, you have feelings for two girls. You need to make a choice. Me, or Lisanna. No matter what I will always be your friend and be there for you."

"I choose you!" Natsu said as if he were Ash Ketchum.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"No..." He admitted. 

"Okay, well then take some time to figure it out. I've waited this long, I can wait a little more." She said with a reassuring smile while gently stroking his arm. She wanted, needed, to give him time to evaluate his feelings, but secretly she didn't want to just sit around and wait, that would be arduous to her. Being around him all day, knowing he had feelings for her too, yet she couldn't do anything because he was still figuring himself out. Then she realized that she didn't have to be around him while he decided. She could go and train with Suberashii! But that would take up to a year, and that might be long enough for Natsu to realize he loved her but then move on. But if he really loved her he would wait. Maybe she could talk to Thorin and work something out, he seemed nice after all. Suddenly a cry broke her from her ever rampant girl-thoughts. 

"Lucy..." Natsu said looking off into the sky, fear painting itself on his face, a feature rarely seen in the fire dragon slayer.

"I know..." She said equally as uncomfortable.

"It can't be?"

Lucy's gaze surveyed the sky, looking for what she hoped she would never find. "Acnologia." She suddenly felt a burning sensation at her hip, inside her key holster. Upon inspection Draco's black key was humming with rampant energy. "I think he's reacting to Acnologia." She then turned to Natsu, "We have to get back to the others and we need To get Thorin up here too!" She said as they were already running towards the other group. 

"Lucy!" Natsu said before pulling her into his arms once again and passionately kissing the air out of her. "I do love you." He repeated breaking the kiss. "I'm sorry my feelings aren't crystal clear."

"I know." She smiled, lips red and puffy from the voraciousness of his lips. "But I wouldn't want you any other way."

\---------

Thorin turned to Pulse. "We have to get out of here." He stood up looking back down at Pulse. "Now!" 

"What is it?" Pulse asked curiously as he got to his feet.

"It's something you're definitely going to have no problem destroying."

"But what is it?" Pulse asked, his new human heart racing frantically at the scared energy Thorin was giving off. 

"The Dragon King, Acnologia." Thorin cleared up.

"And what's it doing here?!" Pulse looked to the sky, still not seeing anything definitive.

"It gains power from killing other dragons, I believe it means to kill you." Thorin stopped running.

"Why'd you stop!?" Pulse asked desperately.

"Well because I just remembered its Dragon Roar can wipe out the whole city, it doesn't matter much where we hide." Suddenly the stony rubble that was the background behind Pulse became a distant image of Crocus. He was teleported.

"Thorin!" A girl cried in relief.

When he turned around to find the source of the voice he smiled. In front of him was a pretty blonde girl eager that he was okay. "Lucy!" He smiled back.

"Thorin, I don't know if you've heard but there's something coming."

"You're referring to Acnologia." He stated bluntly.

Minerva, the girl who teleported them back up to the cliff spoke up. "I assume by your calm demeanor that you'll be able to handle this threat?"

He frowned. "No, Acnologia is far too strong for me to handle. I could only do minor damage against an untrained dragon like Pulse here, not one that's spent half a millennia leeching power from and killing other dragons." 

"That's Pulse?" Natsu asked, walking up to the young man and closely inspecting him before he smiled and held out his hand. "Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet you!"

"What are you talking about!?" Orga interrupted their greeting to yell at Thorin. "A god's power far supersedes that of a dragon's!"

"Who told you I'm a god?"

"I'm a god slayer, I can feel what you are!"

"Then cats out of the bag..." Thorin said before he was cut off.

"Fro thinks so, too!"

"Anyways..." He said ignoring the pink frog suited cat. "So you all know I'm a god? Do you also know there are some among us that posses the 'Demon Factor?'" He shifted the agro off of himself.

"We are all aware of Minerva's background." Rufus defended his comrade.

Thorin only looked to Natsu, he could sense the boy wasn't human, he was an Etherious, and a powerful one at that. But the kid probably didn't even know he was one, no need to spoil the fun. "Well then, all in due time."

"Thorin!" Lucy asked with pleading eyes. "He's almost here. If you can't do it alone, what about us helping you?" 

"I don't think it will be enough." He admitted.

"Well then what about your guild? Can they do anything?"

"We can try, I don't think we can beat it at our current strength, but we can at least save this city."

"How!? Just tell us what you need." Natsu yelled.

Thorin turned to Minerva. "You, I need to get to our guild. I'm going to need you to teleport, a lot." With his words they disappeared. 

"Natsu?" Lucy gained his attention with uncertainty in her voice.

"Yea, Luce?" Something was bothering her.

"Has there ever been a time that we've encountered Acnologia...." She started. "....without also facing Zeref?"

\----------

"Did you feel that!" A scarlet haired beauty yelled to her fellow guild mates, who were currently all celebrating nothing. Her voice causing silence to fill the Guild Hall.

"Yes, child. I felt it too." Makarov stated. "Everyone get prepared. We need to be on standby in case Natsu and Lucy need our help!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you like it, leave a review! If you don't, leave a review! Thanks again!


	24. Goodbye

Thorin and Mivera suddenly materialized in a open clearing, lush, vast, beautiful. While Thorin took in the beauty of the environment, Minerva crashed to the floor, completely exhausted. "What's wrong?" Thorin inquired of the pseudo-Etherious.

"Teleporting this far takes a fair amount of magic, which I don't have much of to begin with." She explained. "And, no offense, but you're kinda heavy, like Orga."

"198!" Thorin said proudly, having taken him a while to find the perfect weight for his height. "Why? Does weight factor into how much magic is consumed upon teleportation?"

"Yes, actually."

Thorin smacked his head. "Weight falls directly into my domain, I think, at least. I can change it with a snap of my fingers." 

"Domain?" Minerva questioned.

"I guess that's the word, 'that which I watch over.' It's why I never understood Ankhseram or Zeref for that matter." Minerva looked at him curiously before he continued, noticing her intrigued expression. "Ankhseram, the god of life and death, cursed Zeref due to his experiment between the two."

"And why don't you understand them." 

"Cause seriously, you think I care if people take weight into their own hands. People diet left and right and you also don't see me cursing every fat person around." Minerva honestly chuckled at that. 

"If you can make our weight less, I can get us to your base. How far out are we?" She asked hoping they were close. Each time she teleported she could only go the range of her vision, which averaged 20 miles at a time, not accounting for anything that might block it out like mountains or trees.

"Well, where exactly are we?" He wondered.

"I think we are between Crocus and the Far East."

"What country?" Thorin specified.

"Fiore..." She trailed off wondering what the hell he meant by that statement. "Why? Where specifically are we going?"

"The easternmost peninsula of the Pergrand Kingdom."

Minerva was astonished. "What!? That's 6 countries away!" She raised her voice in annoyance. "Isn't there anything else we can do?" She asked, not wanting to travel that far, by which point Crocus would be rubble.

"Do you have a communication lacrima?" Thorin asked calmly, showing a severe lack of care for the impending doom of The Flower Capitol.

"You could have started with that. It's far easier to find one of those than it is to traverse thousands of miles." She scolded.

"Well then, we need to get to one." With a snap of his fingers they both felt far lighter than normal, almost like swimming, before Minerva once again teleported them.

\----------

"Did anyone else feel that?" Sting questioned as he and Rogue finally made it back to the others, both slightly angled away from their friends so they could hide the more embarrassing marks left by each other. Yukino took notice to this and only smiled, the least she wanted for anyone was their own happiness. 

Rogue looked around to all the worried faces before he noticed one new, and another absent. "Whose this and where's Minerva?" He added.

Lucy stepped forward, this was her mission after all, she had to act like the leader. "Acnologia is coming, and Minerva took Thorin to get help. And this is actually Pulse, the dragon we fought, he can change into a human." She was good at condensing fact.

"What help can Thorin get?" Sting questioned. Totally ignoring Pulse primarily due to the fact he seemed to already be forgiven despite the way he shied up when Lucy said his name.

"Ya." Natsu inputed. "Is he from a Guild or something?"

"Are they all gods!?" Orga yelled.

Lucy thought for a moment before answering. He had trusted her with the information with his guild, well what little he did give her. There was no doubt her friends had already heard about the guild, and he was probably bringing a few of them to help. It's not like it was that secret. "He's from a Guild that you've all heard of." All eyes were intensely stating at her, waiting for her to finish. "Suberashi."

"That Guild from the Fairy Tales?" Rufus asked and the moment Lucy nodded everyone broke out into laughter. 

"Lucy!" Sting cried between heavy belows as he clutched his stomach. "They're fable, made up, he and his friends probably called themselves that AFTER the kids book! I can't believe you believe him!" Sting finished still totally out of breath. 

"Lucy, are you sure you can trust him? He did seem kind of...dismissive..." Yukino asked giggles still escaping her mouth.

Natsu was the only person that wasn't laughing, he had been up close and personal with Thorin and felt the density and strength of his magic power. It was almost as frightening as that time he was brought to tears by Gildarts on Tenrou Island. The only reason he didn't have a breakdown this time was because he had gotten stronger over the years. He decided to speak up. "Hey!" Everyone stopped laughing and looked at him, "I know you all could feel his power from up here, so if he says he's from Suberashi and he's a god, then I don't see why we shouldn't believe him! Or at the very least have some faith he will help us out!" Natsu defended the man who had saved them.

"Aw, that's touching." A new female voice cooed. The group turned to see Thorin and Minerva accompanied by a third woman, all of them exiting an odd portal. "However, Lucy, I don't Thorin told you about us just for you to go blabbing to your friends." The woman was young, a little older than Thorin. She had dark black hair which was pulled back into a loose wavy pony tail in the back that inched down to just below her neck. Her eyes were bright blue and she had smooth milky skin with prominent rosy cheeks and matching lips. She was wearing a casual dress shirt that had a blue collar with gold trim and the sleeves were rolled up to her elbows much like Thorin's, and a navy ascot hung loosely around her neck. The shirt was tucked into a a dress that ended mid knee with a thin layer of white trim. Black leather high heeled boots rested under the dress which was also secured into place by a matching leather belt.

Lucy went to defend herself. "I didn't blab anything!" 

The woman spoke again. "Hm, maybe not here, but elsewhere."

"What?" Lucy asked, confused and hoping she would clarify.

"Just ignore her, she gets...scattered sometimes. This is Orenda."

Re-introduction Alert:

Name: Orenda Keynote  
Suberashi Member: Position 2  
Magic: Rift

"It's nice to meet you Lucy." She said sweetly, "This you, other yous aren't so kind." Lucy was once again confused by her seemingly random words before she spoke again. "Have you considered our offer?"

At her words all eyes turned to Lucy in question. "What offer?" Sting questioned.

"Ya Lucy! I thought it was weird they were contacting you!" Happy voiced his concerns.

"Lucy? What offer?" Natsu asked quietly moving close to stand by his friend.

Lucy didn't know how to respond. She had thought deeply about the 'offer' when she went to talk with Natsu, and up until that point it had been imprinting on her mind. She had decided that she was going to give Natsu time, and the only way for her to do that and not be hurt by the proximity would be to remove the proximity. She had decided to go with Suberashi, but she wasn't leaving Fairy Tail, it would be more like her first S class mission 'Training With Suberashi: Reward: Experience.' 

"Oh, so you have decided." Orenda inferred, a glint of happiness resting in her blue eyes. "Take a moment to say your goodbyes, then I'll stop Acnologia from causing further damage." 

"Goodbyes?" Lucy questioned, didn't she have more time with them? 

"Yes, they're not to be here for what follows." Lucy didn't question her words, knowing it would yield no useful answers, instead she just turned to the one person her goodbye would be most important to. 

"Lucy? Goodbye? What's wrong!?" Natsu was getting angry at his own confusion. 

With a shaky breath she decided to explain as quick as possible, all eyes were upon them. "I don't even know what to say...this all feels so...rushed." She admitted, not knowing she was being rushed do to the impatience and horrible writing of the author, who, honestly, just wants to get to the good stuff. "They want me to join their group, so they can train me. I didn't tell you because I was going to say no, at first, then things changed."

"What changed?"

"Your feelings." She answers making deep eye contact and grabbing his hand with both hers, pulling it up so it rested over her heart. "Natsu," she began her true love confession. "You have no idea how much I love you. I love you, all of you, everything you do, I support, everything you are, I accept unconditionally. But, I love you to the point it hurts. And it's not just a mild discomfort, but a severe ache that's always, always right here." She pulled his hand closer to her heart, noticing tears forming on his eyes that matched her own. "I can't keep feeling this, and hopefully I won't have to much longer. You still have a choice to make, though, and me being around you while you make it will only hurt even more, not just me, but possible both of us. Suberashi offered to train me, to make me stronger, they see my potential even though some others don't. I'm accepting their offer. I don't know how long it will last, but I'll probably be gone long enough for you to decide."

"What!? No!? Lucy!" He was crying.

"I love you." She said leaning forward placing a kiss on his cheek before a blue light developed him and he disappeared. Tears now pouring down her cheeks she turned to the rest of her friends who had also began to be enveloped by dull blue spheres of light, everyone except Thorin and Orenda. "Goodbye everyone, I'll see you all later." Then they disappeared just as quick as Natsu. She slumped down, covering her face with her arms and attempting to wipe away the tears that wouldn't stop. A small hug caused her to break from the crying and look at who was holding her. 

"It'll be okay, Lucy!" Happy said, also crying.

"What? Happy?" She turned from her feline friend to Orenda. "How is he still here?"

"He, like the others, wanted to be here. However his presence shouldn't be too disruptive. I allowed him to stay." Orenda simply stated.

"Happy, do you want to go with me?" She questioned, not wanting to separate the cat from his friend, brother, or father, it was still a confusing dynamic.

"Absolutely! I want to,get strong too! Maybe Suberashi can help me?" He stopped crying as he turned hopefully to Thorin, knowing he would answer far more clearly than his female friend. 

"I don't see why we couldn't...unless we can't." He didn't answer any clearer than Orenda would have. "Orenda." He got her attention, causing her to put her hands together, like she was opening a curtain of beads. A noise that sounded like a door creaking resounded in all their ears before a portal opened, expanding outward and shifting the reality they were in so they were actually positioned right in the center of the destroyed part of town. "Save fixing this place for after we show Acnologia who it's dealing with." Thorin told Oranda proudly.

"What?" Lucy and Happy asked in unison. "I thought you said you couldn't do anything on your own?" Lucy added. "That you could only do minor scratches."

"Yes, but as it stands, that's all it could do against me."

"Oh." She accepted that their power was matched, before the same familiar yet dreadful cry echoed. It was close, almost of top of them, and when Lucy looked up every cloud in the sky parted, showing the fearsome looking black dragon. Not only did the gust from his wings blow away the clouds, but it also had Thorin, Orenda, Lucy, and Happy bracing themselves from the harsh air. If it wasn't for Thorin's Weight Change, they would have all flown away. "He's already here!?" Lucy yelled over the roar of wind as Acnologia finally settled on the ground with a crash so heavy it shook the earth. The dragon didn't waste any time in using its primary Dragon Roar, which seemed to have the effects of a nuclear blast. 

Orenda only looked at the charging attack with a smile smile on her lips, which parted when she spoke. "Quantum Superposition." At her words a wave of energy flourished outwards from her, almost like a blast of her own. As the wave passed, the colors of any object enveloped by it turned into black and white and it looked slightly staticky. Everything, including people, seemed to flicker, as if they were actually images on an old TV set. Lucy had no idea what she did, but she was happy that she did because as Acnologia unleashed its dragon roar, well, nothing happened. The devastating attack simply washed over everything that was under the influence of Orenda's power, which just happened to be the entire city. As the dragon roar ended, Orenda diminished her area of influence, the statically charged black and white shifting back to its normal color.

"What did you just do!?" Lucy asked watching as her body resumed its normal tone.

"I put us where we could have gone and made it where we were."

"Does she ever answer normally?" Happy asked, overjoyed they all evaded the attack, much to Acnologia's dismay.

Thorin looked towards Lucy and Happy, giving them an explanation. "Her disarray is a side effect of her powers. She'll calm down when they're not in use. Basically she momentarily removed us from reality. It's a bit more complex than that, but I'll explain when it's not my turn." He said as a large amount of air swirled around his outstretched and quivering palm.

"You're turn for what?" Lucy yelled over the now pervasive hum of Thorin's magic.

He didn't respond, instead Orenda spoke. "So you're going to use that too? Many of you have, should the me here do what they did as well?" Thorin only nodded before speaking to the Dragon, the air still swirling, being sucked in by the build up over his hand.

"You might only view us as insects." Thorin stated plainly to the angry dragon in front of him. "However, now you can feel the wrath of a god." Just as he finished his sentence, the build up of swirling pressure stopped. In his open palm was a floating sphere of what looked like super dense pressure. Lucy had never felt so much energy in one place, and it was almost frightening. Thorin reached up and clasped the energy with both his hand before positioning the orb in front of him squeezing it. A high pitch erupted and waves of pressure began to shoot outward causing even more destruction on the surrounding environment, causing Lucy to cry out and grab happy when a pressure whip ripped up the earth to her right. "If you want a challenge, dragon, come and find us." Was all Thorin said before his hands and Acnologia were enveloped by a harsh blue light. "Divine Judgement." Thorin said before Orenda teleported both Thorin's attack and it's target somewhere far, far away. 

Noting was felt for a brief moment before the whole earth shook violently. Tremors causing Lucy and Happy to scream. "Where on earth did you send him!?" She yelled over the rumbling earth.

"The other side of it."

"And we could still feel the attack from here!?" Lucy said in disbelief.

"Now you know the power of Suberashi. The power you can have." Thorin turned to face Lucy who was still desperately grabbing Happy, who looked equally as awed. "Lucy Heartfilia, welcome to Suberashi."

\----------

"Is everyone ready!?" Makarov yelled to all his children who rushed to prepare themselves in order to help out at Crocus, not knowing the fight would be incredibly brief and that it was actually close to over. 

A loud unison cheer signified everyone was, in fact, ready to go, ready to aid their nakama. "Gray!" Erza spoke. "I want you and Juvia as my backup. Wendy, you go with Shadow Gear and Gajeel, boost their magic as much you can. Mira and the Thunder Legion will..." Her orders were cut off when what sounded like a creaking door rang loudly in each their ears, and they were stunned when Natsu and an unfamiliar face suddenly materialized in thin air before crashing to the ground. Natsu's eyes will still burning with tears, something everyone quickly took notice of before he was hounded by questions.

"Natsu! What are you doing here?" Erza questioned

He ignored her, wiggling himself free of the humanoid dragon on top of him. "We have to get back! We have to get Lucy!" He cried literally, tears still soaking his face. As he finally freed his legs, he stood up and "Mest! Can you use 'Direct Line' to...." He was cut off when a wave of inexplicable pain washed over him, causing him to pass out.

"Natsu!" A few concerned voiced yelled as his limp body crashed into the ground.

"Wendy!" Erza yelled as she turned Natsu over and lifted his head into her lap. "What's wrong with him?" He asked as Wendy placed her glowing hands over his chest. 

"I don't know!" Wendy answered with her usual raspy voice. "It's not medical..."

"I think I know." The Iron Dragon Slayer interrupted, observing the familiar symptoms.

"Well then, what is it?" A few people demanded.

A smirk made it's was across the cross armed males lips before he told them. "Salamander, here, found himself a mate."


	25. Reset

"What do you mean!?" Lucy yelled at the Suberashi members before her.

"I mean..." Thorin started, "We are going to have Orenda cover up this whole incident."

"Ya, we heard you!" Happy yelled similarity confused. The Suberashi members sure didn't answer directly, Thorin was a little better than Orenda, but they still had to push him and be extremely clear with their words. "We mean 'how.' How are you going to cover it up?"

"Well to answer that question, I think its time we explain Orenda's powers and why she is position number two." Thorin crossed his arms and smiled while Orenda walked away to pick up a child's doll amidst the rubble, sadness in her eyes. "She is able to see into other realities, realities where choice 'y' was made instead of choice 'x' and so on. For every reality that one decision was made, there is another where it was left unmade. That's why she appears....scattered sometimes, the fact she can peer into every one grants her a near form of omniscience." 

Lucy couldn't believe this, what kind of power is that? It's one third the definition of God. All knowing, all powerful, and all present. But how did she create portals to teleport? And how did she stop that attack from Acnologia? And most importantly, how was she going to cover this whole incident up? She would start with the latter, hoping to gain some form of clarity. "So, she can see into other realities and teleport." Lucy stated what she knew. "But how's that going to cover this all up, fix everything that's broke, make everyone forget, and lastly explain Pulse, where is he by the way?"

"First thing, I can't teleport." Orenda interjected, still holding the doll in her arm which hung loosely at her side by its hand. "Essentially, I don't move, space does, I shift space around myself. As for the portals I make, I join to parts of space at a single point." Orenda simplified, her dazed speech seemingly gone, for now. And seriously, now she could control locations of space?! If this was the second member of Suberashi, what was the first?

"Secondly," Thorin continued, "Pulse is with your friends at Fairy Tail."

"And third," Orenda spoke again, "as Thorin said before, my power deals with the separation of two choices. While, in this word, Pulse and Acnologia attacked, there is another world where they didn't. All other factors are the same. You accepted a job, went to Crocus, met Thorin, then joined us. But no calamity."

"So, this other world, why does its existence matter?" Lucy questioned.

"Because, she's going to merge the realities." Thorin stated, as if that was commonplace.

"What!? And people will just somehow forget?!" Happy yelled while Lucy was still in shock.

"Not entirely. They will be in a state of in-between. They will both remember, and not remember. This is something I can't explain. Your friend, the Dragon Slayer, will remember something happened, he will know you're gone, but based on the other reality, I assume he will just believe you've gone missing..." Orenda said solemnly.

"No!" Lucy cried, he can't forget, so much had happened between them due to the attack, and now that would be wiped out, he wouldn't remember. If Orenda made it so the attack never existed, then neither would their confessions to each other, Lucy would loose him. "There has to be another way!"

"If you're worried about that boy's feelings, don't." Thorin said. "Feelings will remain the same. All factors other than the attack will remain the same, I promise you." That was the problem. Natsu had said their kiss was the moment he felt something for Lucy, if the kiss disappeared, so did the feelings. Lucy was still unsure, but this was the only way, apparently. "But if you're really worried, Orenda can scan for a reality where the attack didn't happen, but your feelings came to fruition."

"Really!?" Lucy asked, trying to halt the previously forming tears, "Could you?"

"Yup, I just found one." She turned to Thorin, Happy, and Lucy. "We won't be affected by this, by the by. Are we all ready?" Orenda placed her arms together in the all familiar fashion of parting a beaded curtain. Then with a loud creak of a door opening, a wave of thin energy spiraled outward, causing the main for to feel like they were spinning, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. When the wave was finished, rubble still littered the road, but all the buildings were still in tact, music was playing, and the crowded people dancing in the streets seemed cheerful, but each felt like something was off. It was strange, but at least everything was back to peaceful. How could this woman do all this in one magic sweep, she was something else. What Guild had Lucy signed up for, and if they were this strong, what plans did they have for her?

\----------

"What do you mean, mated?" Erza asked Gajeel as he threw out his suggestion. 

"I mean..." The dragon slayer muttered. "Natsu obviously found the person most important person to him and claimed 'em." 

"Yes but what is a mate? And how can you tell?" Gray asked, partially wanting to do whatever Natsu did, but with Juvia.

"Natsu found his true love. Probably Lucy, we all saw that coming, and then he bit her, marked her, and most importantly, lacerated skin."

"Why is that important?"

"Because, by taking in her blood, he took in part of her, connecting them. I'm not 100% sure he's mated, but there are a few signs we can check."

"What's the first?" Erza asked while Wendy was still busy trying to heal Natsu back to consciousness.

"Wendy?" Gajeel asked, "Natsu's magic feels different, right? Like there's something more, something Lucy?"

"I, uh, yea...it does..." She admitted, still holding her hands over his chest which rose and fell spastically,obviously he was still at unease.

"Second, after I claimed Levy, she went on a mission, it was far away and the further away she got, the weaker I felt. Last I heard, Lucy and Natsu were in Crocus together, and then he was suddenly here? That's a pretty long leap in a short amount of time, the separation is probably what left him comatose." Wendy stopped healing, realizing Gajeel was probably right, this was a problem that would repair itself.

"And third, the most obvious sign, Lucy would have teeth marks on her, and most likely a scar. When we get her I'm sure we will find out."

Everyone in the guild was shocked at his insight on the matter. Most people thought he was hard up, but a few, like Levy, knew he was a softy and a closet romantic who knew a great deal about love.

"So what does being mated entail?" Juvia asked, wanting to know more.

"Well, and this could be a fourth sign, Natsu will have an overwhelming urge to be around Lucy, which is why we need to get her back. Lucy won't feel much different, but she might think about him slightly more. The mating is, unfortunately, one sided. If she rejected him, he would spend the rest of his life alone and miserable while she wouldn't be worse for wear."

"Juvia doesn't thing that sounds too fun..." She admitted, knowing all too well how much unreciprocated obsession hurt.

"Nope it doesn't." Wendy admitted, secretly wondering who she would end up with. But as she was wondering, a huge tremor shook the entire town of Magnolia, prompting many people to wonder what the hell happened. The tremor, caused by Thorin's blast, was soon replaced by a low hum of energy, and then...everyone was fine. And Natsu's eyes slowly began to flicker open.

"Natsu!" Everyone yelled. "What happened!?" Where's Lucy!?" Erza questioned, shaking the boy.

Natsu scanned his mind, but something was off, a burning city, crocus, but then he remembered it was fine. A dragon, no a boy, no, wait, there was no dragon. Lucy, a kiss, where did she go? He couldn't remember anything clearly, everything was a confusing mix of what was and what now was... "I...I have no idea what happened..." He admitted. "But I think Lucy is missing....."

End of Part One


	26. Gottfried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two is finally here! These next 25 chapters will really kick off the story. I hope you enjoy!

"You want me to do what now?" Lucy questioned the god in front of her, making sure she had heard him right. There was no way that she did...

"Cast Gottfried." He repeated to the girl before him. 

It had been three days. Three days since what the trio was referring to as the 'Battle of Crocus.' Although nothing technically happened, due to the 'reality merge,' people had questioned the large amount of objects that suddenly needed fixing in their house. Many pipes were in need of repair, electricity needed to be rewired, and cables repaired, all due to their status of being in between destroyed from the first reality and fixed due to the second. It was such an odd concept, reality merging, but aside for the aforementioned, the only other abnormality was an unusual reporting of nightmares, all of which were either about dragons or the city being destroyed. That was most likely due to their minds 'remembering something that no longer existed,' so said Orenda, who had departed shortly after combining two worlds. 

\----------  
Flashback  
\- Three days ago  
\----------

"Are you sure combining two realities is safe?" A concerned Lucy asked, still skeptical about the whole situation.

"Yes, nothing incredibly bad has happened yet." Thorin replied, watching as Orenda began to preform the spell.

"You've done this before?!" Lucy yelled, shocked.

"Yes. We do it every time our presence is revealed. Actually, you've experienced it before." Her confused look prompted him to continue. "Deja vu? It's result of a reality merge. It's the result of your mind trying to remember something that is no longer there." 

"Oh...wow." Lucy admitted, suddenly realizing how many times it had happened. Orenda then merged the realities, altering events and how they would now be perceived.

"Okay, you merged them, now let's go." Thorin stated as Orenda finished her mass spell.

"No, I'm going, you three aren't." She stated simply.

"And what do you mean we aren't going?" Thorin rebuked.

"I mean, you, Lucy, and the cat can all walk there." She replied smiling, too sweetly for what she just told them to do.

"You are well aware that our destination is 6 countries away! Why would we walk that far!?" Thorin grew angry, walking and running not exactly his favorite things.

"Oh, quit complaining, all that walking will give you and Lucy plenty of time to bond as well as ample amounts of time to train." She crosse one arm, resting the other on the crossed appendage, hand to her chin, a devilish smile crowning the display. 

"Hey, I wanna bond too!" Happy yelled, perhaps too eagerly.

"See, the exceed agrees, and if he can do it, you can too." She replied and turned around, ignoring Happy's cries about her implication. 

"But wait!" Orenda turned around, "If this were a story, do you have any idea how long that would take to write!?" Thorin urged.

"Hm, there could always be a time skip?" She suggested. With a parting of her hands she disappeared, leaving the trio to work out their travel details. 'What were they going on about?' Lucy wondered

\----------

Lucy continued to argue with her 'instructor.' "I can't cast that! The last time I did it was with two other Celestial Spirit Mages! And even then, I was left comatose roses for days..." Her sentence delineated as she remembered just how inert she was. 

"Yes, it is an ancient super-spell. It undoubtedly left you impaired."

"Ancient super-spell?" Lucy questioned. "Hisui said the same thing, that it was a 'super-magic, long forgotten.' But what exactly do you both mean?"

"Well," he started, sitting down to match Lucy who had crouched to her knees. "It can mean many things. The fact it requires words is one. Most spells have no audible prerequisites, instead relying on body movement or memorizing how magic 'feels.' For instance, when you summon a spirit, the magic output feels immediate, right? But when you've used Urano Metria, the magic expenditure, while large, has much more build up, right?" Lucy nodded, she loved when Thorin passed on his knowledge to her, she had always loved learning, and he was someone who knew a lot. While she already missed Fairy Tail, times like this made her think of how much she would grow and come to learn by being part of Suberashi. "When magic first started, people couldn't freely form it on their own, they had to use words to guide the flow of magic, incantations. Gods were around first, and with their willpower, they could shape the earth. Words have the ability to do just that. By speaking to someone, you can change them, you can change their opinion, their attitude, even their emotion. Certain words could start or stop wars, spark or quench hatred, words could do so much. When people observed this, they figured words, if string enough, could be used to change their surroundings, just as words could change others, and thus, incantations were born. However that was eons ago... So pretty much any word based magic is an ancient spell, like Urano Metria and Gottfried, and I assume you've encountered one form or another of the Yakuma Eighteen War God's Magic, that's ancient as well. A super-spell or super-magic, is a spell that uses the magic of multiple people, as it would be near impossible for a sole person to cast. It's kind of like a Unison Raid, only it takes more people and it's not combining different spells into one, but rather coming together to form one. Understand?"

"Yes, but you just said why I can't do Gottfried, it requires MULTIPLE people!" She retorted, still trying to get out of it.

"I also said it would be NEAR impossible, not fully unattainable." He smiled at her. "Besides, you're Suberashi, I wouldn't expect any less. You did it with two people before, but you're much stronger now, aren't you?"

"Yes, but still..." 

"Think of it this way. When you first cast it, how long were you out for?" He questioned.

"A couple of days. And if I do it by myself, no doubt I'll be out exponentially longer..." She answered softly, once again not knowing where the conversation was taking her. And where was Happy? She swore he spent too much time fishing...

"Okay, so let's say three days. You use it on your own the first time. You're out for two weeks. You use it a second time, and you're out for a week. Use it a third and you'll recover after a few days. Use it a fourth and it'll take a few hours. See where I'm going with this?"

Lucy suddenly realized what he was saying to her. "So it's like my spirits! At first, I could only summon one at a time, and I could only summon 3 gold keys in a single day. Now I can summon three at a time and I can get out all twelve Zodiacs in a 24 hour period! I mean, sure my magic has grown, but what your saying..." He cut her off.

"Is that repetitive use of the spell makes it cost less magic, yes." He finished. Lucy was in awe, how could she not have seen this earlier? She, and everyone she knew, simply assigned a 'cost' to a spell and subtracted that 'cost' from their total magic. It never even occurred to her that the cost could decrease AND magic could increase. "And after you cast Gottfried 30 times?"

"It'll make Urano Metria look like a piece of cake." She replied smugly.

"Okay, now, do you want to try it? Remember, if you go unconscious, I'll pull you to your Magic Playground so you'll at least have something to do."

Lucy only stood up and walked a few feet away, determination lining her features. "I'm going to do it, but it's an omnidirectional attack, you should get Happy and protect yourselves..." Thorin nodded, turning heel and heading for where he felt the faint magic of an Exceed. Lucy took in a deep breath and held her hands to her side, palms outward. 

"I ask that the heavens make the stars descend to earth..." As she finished the first line, her magical power surged outward, causing the sky to bleed red light through the clouds which stained the earth black.

"Illuminate... By all means... This land... This world... This land!" A green glowing sphere of energy formed at her chest and expanded outward, fulling encasing its caster and causing an odd contrast against the bleak and dark earth and red sky. At this point, Lucy could feel the massive draining effect of the spell, she would no doubt collapse after it's completion, that is, if she actually managed to complete it. She was determined, however. When she had to say goodby to Aquarius, something inside her had changed. She no longer viewed herself as a damsel, or a cry baby, but as someone who could grow, someone who would fight to better herself. She would complete this spell! With another deep breath, ignoring the pain that began to spread through her body, she continued.

"By your hand, let everything be illuminated." A low hum resonated through the air followed by the sound of rhythmic thudding. A pulse. Her pulse. The green sphere surrounding her began to throb in tandem with the rhythm of her heartbeat, and after a few seconds the green light shot skyward in a column of energy, a spiraling beam swirling around it. The clouds that were there previously were immediately dispersed, as the light hit them, allowing the red glow of the sky to be seen at its full brilliance. Lucy felt her body go numb from pain, she wanted to throw up, but she was almost done. And if she could endure it this time, she could do it again, until it became common practice for her.

"Twinkling, shooting, falling... Let the stars descend before us." Each star began to shine. Lines forming between them, connecting each so their constellation was vivid in the crimson sky. Each star continued to grow brighter and illuminate further, causing a new light to form upon the earth. One more word and Lucy would complete the spell. Gods she hoped Thorin reached Happy, and that no one else was around... She probably should have waited... Too late now. She took one final deep breath before she yelled the last word.

"Gottfried!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The continuously illuminating stars reached their peak, a new light shining down on earth. Her pillar of light collapsed downward, returning to the pulsating sphere before the sky turned a pale yellow from the stars, followed by an immense beam of energy that cascaded in a massive radius around Lucy before she passed out.

\----------

"What!?" Thorin said grabbing Happy and pulling him close to his chest.

"What's happening!?" Happy asked as he watched the sky paint itself red, a green beam of energy parting clouds, followed by a beam that engulfed the two. Thorin put a pressure barrier around the two of them, but even then he was struggling against the power of the spell. 

"Lucy's casting a spell...." He was straining under the pressure of his own spell. "I had no idea it would be this strong...' If she had used this against anyone else they wouldn't stand a chance, hell, even he was barely holding on, his own consciousness beginning to slip away from the incredible strain. He had to put out as much pressure as he was blocking, and this... If Urano Metria was said to have the power of a meteor, then this... This felt like a planet was being dropped on him. Finally the beam of light surrounded them dissipated, and Thorin, just like Lucy, lost consciousness. Happy looked around, the only one still awake. 

"No way..." Happy said breathlessly as he tried to find something, anything, that was left in what was now a crater. Everything except the trio, was gone, all within a five mile radius around Lucy.

\----------

"Mest!" Natsu yelled as the tall man, accompanied by Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Levy, and Lily, suddenly appeared in the center of the Guild. Since Natsu woke up, his memory had been fuzzy to say the least. He remembered events clearly, arriving at crocus, talking with Hisui, and then nothing... The few times he had fallen asleep, however, he had strange dreams. Dreams of dragons, of Acnologia, plagued his sleep. But then there were dreams of him and Lucy, happily holding each other and kissing more passionately than anything he could have imagined between them, which often led to him waking up with a 'hard' problem. But the strange thing was, even though he knew they were dreams, he couldn't help but feel they were more... Like memories, like he could feel her lips lingering on his. Happy and Lucy were unaccounted for and Natsu had never felt a stronger pull towards the blonde, which he blamed on the dreams, but that didn't account for why he felt so weak now that she was gone. Where was she? And that's what Mest and Company had recently traveled to Crocus to find, and now they were back. "Well!? Did you guys find anything!?" He yelled as he stood up and walked towards the group, leaving Gray all alone at the table, who had spent the last three days uncharacteristically comforting the Fire Dragon Slayer. Seriously, having a girlfriend had softened him up. 

"Natsu-san." Levy said solemnly. "We couldn't find her..." She cried, similarity missing her Celestial Spirit Mage friend. Natsu didn't reply, instead his face twisted into one of question and a broken heart. 

"We tried Natsu!" Wendy enforced, tears also wetting her face. "Gajeel and I spent the whole time trying to sniff out her scent to track her. But it was strange..." She trailed off, not having the words to explain the phenomenon she had witnessed. Gajeel spoke up to finish for her.

"We would catch smell of her, and then it would vanish, and then pick up in another place, and then...the same thing. It was weird. You're scent did the same thing. And we even picked up scents from members of Sabertooth. All of your scents...it's like they weren't there, but they definitely were.... So we decided to pay Sabertooth a visit..." Natsu looked at him in a way that urged him to keep going. "They said they hadn't been to Crocus in a while... All of em were just at home." 

"Meanwhile, I spoke to the Princess, who informed me Lucy and you tracked down the source of the magic drainage, which was your new friend here." Mest said pointing to Pulse, who looked away shamed. He didn't know what was happening, but something had shifted and people seemed to have forgotten what happened. He would leave it at that. In the three days since his arrival at Fairy Tail, he had been welcomed warmly. He didn't want to throw that all away just because he was influenced to destroy a city that clearly wasn't even harmed. He would tell them where Lucy was, but honestly it was just as much of a mystery to him. Instead of paying attention to Lucy, he was busy trying to pick up any signs of Acnologia, he didn't hear her tell Natsu where she was going. "However, she said Lucy still hadn't picked up the money. Something must have happened. So,etching that made you and a Pulse appear here while Lucy and Happy stayed behind."

"No crap!" Natsu yelled, "I just have no idea what!!" His fist pounded into the table, causing it to shake. And apparently he was stronger than he believed because the whole Guild Hall seemed to rumble from it. "Uh, sorry...I dint mean to make everything shake..."

"No." Erza clarified, trailing off, looking around, scanning for something. "It's not you, Natsu. This rumbling is magical power...."

"And a lot of it." Wendy piped in, wondering what exactly they were all feeling. By now every available guild member was standing up, trying their hardest to determine what this magic was and why the ground was shaking mildly. "It's familiar, isn't it?" 

"You guys!" Gray was now standing by the window, looking out in shock. "You're not gonna believe this!" He said as he ran to the Guild Hall entrance and violently threw open the doors, a blood red sky greeting everyone who looked. 

"What is it?" Mest asked, never before seeing anything like this. "An eclipse?"

"No." Natsu said as all the stars in the sky began to glow and lines formed between them, all constellations now contrasting the crimson background. "This magic power, it's Lucy's!"

"Are you sure?" Erza questioned, not wanting him to rush into things, he was already still weak from being separated from her.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life! This is her magic energy, and that's the spell she used to break that globe thingy in the Spirit World."

"Gottfried?" Wendy questioned in disbelief, under the impression it required three specific people, Lucy, Hisui, and Yukino. Two of which who currently did not know where Lucy was.

"Yes, I'm sure. And if she's using that spell, then she has to be in trouble! We have to go!" He yelled as the sky turned a brilliant white and a massive beam of energy erupted in the distance, all the members of Fairy Tail suddenly feeling the immense power given off by the spell, giving each person a clear feeling of who cast the spell. There was no doubt it was Lucy's magic. "Mest, can you get us there?" 

"It'll use up all my magic power. But yes, who's coming?"

"Me!" Natsu yelled first, eagerly wanting to get to Lucy. And Happy...happy was important too!

"Me as well." Erza stated, crossing her arms.

"We are going, isn't that right Gray-Sama?" Juvia asked her beloved, to which he replied with a nod.

"Don't forget about us!" Levy yelled including herself and Gajeel.

"Carla and I are a part of this team, we are coming as well." Wendy said, concern in her voice.

"The Strauss Siblings have your back!" Mira cried.

"And the Thunder Legion isn't staying behind." Laxus included them laxly. "If blondie is using a spell that powerful, she must be in danger. That is, if it is her, I had no idea she could even cast something like that." Laxus admitted, stunned internally by her power.

"So basically, everyone who is actually here?" Mest asked, which yielded him a unison nod. 

"Actually, Pulse and I are going to stay here." Lily said. "Makarov is due back any hour, and if Lucy is in as much danger as some of us think she's in, he'll want us to take him there."

"Alright. Good point." Mest said with a sigh, his magic power would be zero come their landing. The pillar of energy that emerged from the sky was far away... Oh well. "Let's go." He said, transporting everyone in the blink of an eye. 

Next Chapter: 'Fairy Tail vs Thorin!'


	27. Fairy Tail vs Thorin!

"Thorin!" Happy began pushing the unconscious male before him. "Come on! Wake up!" He finished with tears in his eyes. His best friend and their guide were both out cold and he was all alone, scarred. "Thorin!" He urged one last time before said man's eyes began to flicker, before finally opening.

"Ugh, Happy." He said as he sat up. "Where's Lucy? Why were you waking me up and not her?"

"I already tried waking her up...." His voice saddened. "But she's really really out." Happy stated solemnly, the tears in his eyes still soaking his cheeks.

Thorin made his way over to Lucy. Apparently, happy had moved them closer together while he was asleep. He checked to make sure she was still alive, and if her repairing energy was any sign, she was. And that's when Thorin actually payed attention to his surrounding, well, what little there was to observe. Everything was either rubble or dirt, almost as if a bomb went off. They were in a low crater, showing that her spell ran deep as well as covered a massive area, if the radius was any indicator. "Wow, I had no idea this much power was in her...."

"I'll say..." Happy meekly whispered. "T-thank you! For saving me, I mean."

"Anytime." Thorin responded before he sensed something off in the distance. No. Not something. Someone. And no. Not someone, but someones. Their power level was incredibly high and any other sensor-type would be frightened by the sudden appearance of said power. Then he felt a magic signature that was familiar, he instantly recognized it as Natsu. "Happy, it looks like your friends from Fairy Tail are here."

"Oh, really!?" He stopped crying. "I'll take Lucy to them!" He sprouted wings and picked up a limp Lucy, causing her to dangle freely from his tiny arms.

"No, don't. Get her as far away in that direction, I'll meet you later." Thorin corrected.

"What, why!?" Happy grey agitated.

"Because, this was a decision that pained Lucy to make. She already had to say goodbye to her friends once, do you think she would really want to do it again?"

"No, I guess not..." He admitted.

"With my words, the decision now rests with you. Either take her back to Fairy Tail, or run away so I can continue to train you both." Thorin wouldn't interfere with whatever the cat decided, but he hoped it was the latter.

"I..uh...mhm...Fine!" Happy decided determination lining his face. "I'll take Lucy and hide." He began to fly in the other direction. Happy knew that what Thorin said was true, it would be hard to say goodbye a second time, but this was something Lucy wanted, and he wouldn't take that away from her. She had even told him that it was a good way for her and Natsu to figure out where they stand with each other, that would be another decision he would take away from her by returning her. Then Happy thought of something, stopping mid flight. "Wait! What are you going to do with them!?"

"Hm," Thorin grabbed his chin in thought. "I kinda want to see how strong the force of 'Fiore's Number 1 Guild' is..." Happy didn't know who to root for. He wanted Fairy Tail to win, but if Thorin lost then there wouldn't be anything for him to teach Lucy... Oh the dilemma. "And don't worry, I won't really hurt any of them." He said with a smile causing Happy to nod and fly off.

\----------

"Him!" Natsu yelled as Thorin clearly came into view. "He was there! At Crocus! He's got Lucy!" 

"Are you sure? You've said yourself that your memory is to the greatest."

"Yes! I'd remember his signature anywhere!!" He told the red head, while picking up his pace. "Almost like there's nothing, but when he attacks there's a ton!"

"Alright then, Laxus! Mira!" She called for their attention, noticing Natsu wanted to start the fight as soon as possible. "We are the three fastest, let's begin this fight!" She re-quipped into her Flight Armor, her fastest armor.

"Right behind you!" Mira yelled, embodying her Satan Soul.

"Gotcha." Laxus responded, an electrical aura buzzing around him. 

All three boosted forward, closing the ashy distance between themselves and Thorin.

\----------

"Who are you!?" Erza yelled in question as they approached Thorin.

"And what have you done with Lucy and Happy?!" 

"Happy and Lucy?" Thorin asked still shrugging off the effects of Gottfried that lingered on his body. That one spell left him in a somewhat dilapidated state. Hopefully he could handle the threat in front of him.

"Don't play dumb." Laxus snapped. "You're standing in the center of a crater that was caused by her." Laxus smiled, "And the slight trembles in your body and messed up cloths show me you were hit by it." He mentally gave Lucy a 'good job.'

"Well then..." Thorin thought for a moment. He could explain who he was, but that would undo what they hoped to gain from the reality merge. Secrecy. Suberashi wasn't ready to reveal themselves. Not yet, anyways. But soon... "I guess I'm you're enemy. But three against one? That hardly seems fair." He asked cockily.

"In Fairy Tail, 'fair' doesn't exist when a friend is in danger!" Erza yelled.

"I meant fair for you." Even Laxus was surprised by his arrogance. "Why don't you let your friends catch up? I'll wait."

"Tell us where Lucy is!" Erza demanded once more.

"I will, at the conclusion of this battle. Maybe..." Erza didn't waste any time if rushing forward with blinding speed. Thorin's eyes went wide as she blinked past his left side and slashed through her opponent. Mira and Laxus cheered at her attack. But as her momentum carried her forward she glanced back at her still standing target. 'How was he still standing?' She thought, and as if he had somehow heard her questioned he turned his head a smile appearing across his lips as he help up his wrist, showing a deeply scratched watch that had apparently halted her blade. "Damn, I liked that watch. But you're going to have to be faster than that."

"Let's see you block this twice!" She yelled, her voice strained as she pivoted her right foot forward and skidded to a halt before she blasted back towards Thorin with a sped that put shame to her first. 

"Weight Change." Thorin held out his hand and preferred his spell which caused Erza to violently crash downward into the scorched earth below her. She skidded a few feet before stopping, completely immobile from the sudden excess of weight.

"Erza!" Mira yelled with her satanic voice. "See how you like this!" Mira rushed forward intending to do as much close combat damage as she could. But midway there Thorin just extended his arm and held out two fingers. 

"Bol." A large sphere of pressure formed in front of Thorin and around Mira, instantly stunning her. The earth below her was disintegrated from the pressure in the spheres area of effect. Mira cried out in pain before swirling energy of the spell, which only lasted a second, dissipated, leaving Mira to fall to the newly uncovered earth underneath her.

"Mira!" Laxus cried out before he rushed with electrically enhanced speed in order to catch the falling girl, who he caught at the last moment. She was reverted back to her normal beautiful appearance as well as rendered unconscious. As Laxus looked down at her with sorrow in his eyes, he gently and caressingly brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face before he heard Erza yelled for him.

"Laxus!" Erza cried getting his attention. "Mira's out and I'm still pinned. Do whatever you did to save us from Albareth." 

She was referencing his most powerful spell. 'Thunder Oblivion.' It was a technique that released magical energy and lighting so powerful that it equated to the force of an atomic blast. Or 'Overdrive,' as he had heard other parts of the world call it. "Alright, but you better be able to requip into your Adamantine or Lightning armors." He yelled to her before he softly placed Mira down and walked closer towards Thorin, who didn't seem scathed at all. In fact, the fact Lucy's attack left him even a little frazzled was shocking. But if she could frazzle him, Laxus was confident he could do more. He lifted up his right arm, magic and power surging through it, before he brought it harshly down. A swift strike of lightning hit Thorin before the area of effect expanded causing a blast effect to go off. However as it expanded, it didn't even reach half of Lucy's area of effect before it slowed down and halted in place. 'What!? It shouldn't sop!' Laxus thought. How had the energy stopped? Without another second cracks began to form in the surface of the lightning, exponentially growing before his whole attack shattered, revealing an unscathed Thorin. "What on earth are you?!" Laxus yelled. He had almost exhausted all his magic in that one strike. The man in front of him had faced down three powerhouse s-class mages and not only came out victorious, but came out completely unharmed. Finally, the remaining members of Fairy Tail arrived.

"Fire Dragon's,"

"Sky Dragon's,"

"Iron Dragon's,"

"Roar!" The trio finished in unison, causing a beam of blue, red, and gray to burst through their respective mouths. The attacks met in the center and continued as one to their target. It appeared as if the attack had hit, Thorin became completely enveloped by the newly formed rainbow of energy. However, upon the cessation of the attack, the wind, iron, and fire disappearing, Thorin was holding out his hand, a swirling barrier of pressure fully blocking the attack in front of him.

"A tri-unison raid? Impressive, but not enough." Thorin stated simply stunning the entire group in front of him. If Natsu could remember that they were dealing with a god, he would understand that their efforts were in vain. "What is it you all hope to accomplish?" 

"You sand between me and Lucy! I will trample you to get to her!" Natsu screamed at his, seething the words through his teeth. 

"How chivalrous. But did it ever occur to you she left you on her own?" 

"What!? That's ridiculous! She would never leave us! Now buck up, you and I have a dispute to settle." Natsu grew angrier, pounding his fists together in warning. 

"Well, believe what you like...." He dismissed before he got cut off.

"Natsu! Watch out, it seems like he has little magic power, but when he attacks the power is overwhelming." Erza yelled in warning. "Well actually, just like you said..." She recounted realizing she had ignored his own advice an was now telling him to use it.

"You all are so quick to fight." Thorin laughed, "This fight is over."

"What!? No! Stay and fight coward!" Natsu yelled.

"The thing is, the reason why you can't really hurt me." He started to walk away, snapping his fingers and freeing Erza from her weight gain. "Is because I'm not really here." His image suddenly flickered.

"You're a Thought Projection?" Erza asked walking closer to the afterimage. "But I cut through your watch!"

"Yes, and I left immediately after that disappointing fact." He glanced towards his watch, sadness in his eyes.

"But how? We didn't even see you move." Erza questioned, all fight leaving her body, intrigue and curiosity replacing it.

"Humans rarely see what they aren't looking for." He replied.

"You speak as if you're not one." Erza was probably the only person who could clearly understand Thorin, and perhaps even Orenda. "But you aren't, are you? Your magic power is non-existent, yet you preform spells with massive energy."

Thorin let out a single chuckle. "You're observant. And you're right, but I'll let you figure out what I am yourself." His image looked directly at her. "But you're wrong on one thing." 

"Enlighten me."

"My magic pressure isn't non-existent, rather I suppress it. Otherwise it would be overbearing..."

"You're a big talker." She accused before a hum pierced through the air she collapsed to her knees. Soon everyone else followed, each person brought to their knees by the sudden overwhelming presence around them. 

"Believe me now?" Thorin smiled.

"What spell is this!?" Natsu yelled.

"It's not a spell!" Laxus yelled, "He's just releasing his magic pressure!" His voice strained through the force surrounding him. "How is it this strong!?"

"You're not even physically here! How?" Levy yelled, she was suffering the most of all, her own magic power offering little resistance against this outside force.

"Yes, I am far away, but it appears the effects can still reach you." He was smiling, everyone around him completely impaired. "Should I increase how much I release? Maybe double it? How about I hit 20%?" Levy fully collapsed, coughing up blood. Only a few managed to resist the increase in his magic power, but now they were even more restrained, like a lockdown from the air. 

"Bastard!" Gajeel yelled. "Stop this! Or I'll kill you!" He roared through the humming in the air. The pressure and low buzz suddenly stopped and everyone felt infinitely less burdened. 

"There. Now you all know exactly who has Lucy. But don't worry, you'll see her again." His image began to flicker away, before it was stopped by a new voice.

"We most certainly will!" An elderly man and a man wearing a dark cloak stepped forward. "And we don't want to fight the fake you, we want to challenge your real self."

"Wizard Saint: Makarov Dreyar, and Fairy Tail Ace: Gildarts Clive. Quite the challenge." He though for a moment. "Fine, I'll be right out." Then he disappeared.

\----------

Mira awoke to a vast and lush field, all of which was completely underwater. "Where am I?" She asked aloud, not believing herself to recieve an answer, however that's exactly what she got from a person she didn't expect.

"It's called Magical Playground." Mira turned around to see the blonde everyone was searching for. "Hi, Mira."

"Lucy!"

Next Chapter: 'Fairy Tail vs Thorin: Part 2'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reference to 'Rave Master' in this chapter, can you spot it?


	28. Fairy Tail vs Thorin: Part 2

"So I can see you're quite the opponent for my children." Makarov stated as Thorin actually entered the battlefield, slightly annoyed. "And have I heard correctly that you currently have another one of my children?"

"How would I know what you heard?" Thorin said, void of any emotion other than dismissive ness.

"Sarcastic, aren't you?" Gildarts laughed. "I like this guy!"

"Winning the approval of a rudimentary mage wasn't on my to-do list."

"Hm, everyone get back, let Gildarts and I handle this." Makarov warned his fellow guild members. 

"But Master..." Erza started.

"No 'buts,' child, you've done your part. Leave the rest to us." 

"We aren't letting you fight him alone!" Natsu objected, slightly fearing that not even these two would be a match. He had already downed three S-class wizards who's combined efforts had only managed to scratch an accessory. But hell, if they could face off against the Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart, Tartarous, and the Spriggan 12 (led by Zeref,) then they could handle a single person. Oh, but wait, didn't he tell Erza he wasn't a person, not even human. A sudden, familiar force interrupted his thoughts. This time, he didn't collapse to his knees, instead he was face first slamming into the ground beneath him. Everyone was in a similar predicament except Makarov and Gildarts.

"Bastard!" Gildarts yelled. "Your fight is between us!" He was quietly still getting over being called 'rudimentary.' 

"Cease this now!" Makarov attempted to instruct Thorin over the roaring hum of energy.

Thorin ignored their demands and the ground bound Mages continued to grunt in strained pain. "Retreat and allow Lucy to continue with me, and I'll let your 'children' go."

"And what happens if I don't?" Makarov questioned, anger growing.

"Well, as it stands, their skin will continue to weigh more and more until either their bones are crushed underneath the pressure, or until it peels off of them." Macabre. "And after that, I assume you'll want to fight. You know what they say happens when two Mages with the calibre of a Wizard Saint do battle, right?" Thorin questioned, he often used rhetoric in order to get people to come to realizations on their own.

"A 'cataclysm.'" Makarov answered solemnly.

"And could you imagine what three doing battle would yield?" Thorin pushed further.

"Hm, you're right." Makarov turned towards Gildarts. "You retreat with them." He simply instructed.

"What!?" Gildarts questioned the sanity of the man before him.

"Three people of our power would cause annihilation. I don't want to cause an annihilation, but for Lucy, I will cause a cataclysm if need be." Makarov was one of the few who believed in Lucy's power, having even put her on the front lines for the Grand Magic Games. He knew she wasn't at her strongest, and there were more powerful choices at the time, but he saw it as an opportunity to show off her potential. Her potential, he had no doubt that with the right training she could easily rival Erza. He was always glad that she had joined the guild. She was the embodiment of the love everyone had to offer. "Let them go and take me on as your opponent." 

"I've already gauged your strength. There's no reason to continue fighting. Lucy was the right choice."

"The right choice?" Makarov questioned the use of his words.

"The strongest of all of you. Don't linger on it too much. I'm not your opponent, nor an enemy." Thorin once again turned around which freed everyone from their prison and caused Makarov to bring his hands together, eyes glowing.

"Fairy Law!" He yelled, but right before he could finish executing the spell Thorin turned back around.

"Judgement of the Gods," he outstretched his arm in preparation for an immediate counter attack before a similar glowing light appeared at the tip of his outstretched palm. However both men called off their spell when a voice interrupted them.

"Makarov, stop!" His spell dissipated, so did Thorin's.

"Mira! You're awake!" Laxus pointed out.

"Master, he's not lying, he's not our enemy!" She pleaded.

"How do you know, Mira?" The old man asked.

"Because Lucy told me."

\----------

"Lucy!" Mira ran up and pulled the taller girl into a crushing hug. "Everyone is looking for you!" She claimed causing Lucy to retreat from the hug and look down sadly.

"That's what I didn't want to happen..." She admitted.

"What, why!?" A puzzled look etched its way into her blue eyes.

"Because, I chose to leave, saying goodbye once was painful enough." She still wasn't making eye contact with Mira.

"Saying goodbye?" Mira questioned. "Lucy, you disappeared. No one had any idea where you went!"

"No, I told...Natsu..." She thought for a moment. "The reality merge must have made him forget..."

"Forget what?" Mira continued to question.

"It doesn't matter anymore." She sighed her response. "Anyway, how did you find me?"

"We were at the guild when the sky darkened into red, then there was a beam of magic energy in the distance. We could all feel your magic power from Magnolia. I had no idea you had so much!" She beamed, but even though she said it happily Lucy still took slight insult.

"And that's why I'm leaving."

"You were serious about that? But what about Fairy Tail? What about us? We are your family."

"Yes, and you always will be. I love you all, but as it stands I'm weak in everyone's eyes. Thorin asked to train me to become stronger. I won't be gone for long, but when I come back maybe I can be on par with all of you." 

"Lucy! You're already just as good as us! It's silly to think otherwise."

"I'm sorry Mira, but my mind is made up..." She sincerely repented.

"There's more to it, isn't there?" Lucy didn't respond. "It's Natsu, isn't it?"

"How did..." Mira cut her off.

"I'm always looking for any romance in the guild, it was easy to see how much you care for him."

"It doesn't matter, though. When I said goodbye to him I basically told him he had to decide between Lisanna and I." Mira just shook her head and grabbed Lucy's examining every part of her, looking for an indicator. "Uh, can I help you find something?"

"I'm looking for bite marks." She responded.

"Oh, you mean these?" Lucy pulled down on her lower lip, showcasing two deep puncture wounds that were still raw. 

"Oh my gosh! So it was you!" She accused. "Then there is no decision, he chose you!" She squealed, happy her sister lost out. She loved Lisanna, clearly, but she just didn't see Natsu and her together.

"What? I'm not following." Lucy asked quizically.

"Gajeel thought this was the case, but we couldn't tell for sure until we got ahold of you." Mira started, "You and Natsu are mated!"

"I must still be missing something."

"When a Dragon Slayer takes in the blood of their most treasured person, they become mated!" She squealed again.

"What, no." Surely even if it had happened, the reality merge should have made it so that he had both bit her and not bitten her. Just because she was unaffected and still bore the marks of Natsu, that didn't mean that he had technically ever bit her. Unless somehow that link between the two transcended worlds. Part of her hoped it did "He still needs time to figure things out, and I still need time to figure myself out. Thorin said I wouldn't be gone for too long, I'll be back before you know it."

"Thorin! Is that the guy who can change weight?" Mira asked.

"Yes, why?"

"And he's your friend?" She shifted to a more urgent demeanor.

"Yes, he's got our backs, he saved everyone at Crocus."

"Aw fooey, then I've got to get back, we've made a big mistake!" 

"Mistake?" Now Lucy was worried.

"We are attacking him as we speak. I've got to tell the others to stop, but I don't know how to leave, let alone how I got here in the first place." She still wanted an explanation as to where specifically she was, but it could wait till Lucy returned.

"Haha, don't worry, Thorin can hold his own, but you better hurry before he accidentally hurts anyone."

"Too late, he already knocked me out."

"Actually, I think he did that so he could send you here, it's like an unconscious world that represents our magic. This one is mine. But anyways just try to wake up, it should work." She instructed her friend.

"Alright I'll try!" She could already feel herself being pulled out of the vast green of Lucy's world. She threw her arms around Lucy once again. "Goodbye, Lucy! Come back and show us all what I believe you're capable of! And don't worry, I'll keep most of this on a need to know basis." Lucy deepened the hug, it didn't really matter what Mira promised, she was likely to remember little of this conversation upon waking up anyway.

"Thank you, Mira." She said before the girl in her arms faded away.

\----------

"Lucy trusts him, and so should we!" Mira emphasized.

"When did you speak with Lucy?!" Natsu ran up to her and shook her violently.

"Back off, salamander." Laxus shoved him off of his crush after he noticed how harsh he was actually shaking the white haired woman.

"I, I'm not sure, it's like a dream I had, but I just..." She turned towards Thorin. "You're not our enemy, are you?" 

"I'm not your enemy, but that doesn't mean you have to like me." Once again he turned around and started to walk away. 

"Hey! Asshole!" Natsu yelled. "You're just going to walk off and keep Lucy? And where's Happy" 

"Yup. And Happy is with Lucy and I, don't worry."

"I want a rematch! Now!" He demanded.

"Hm, I can't do that." He responded.

"And why is that!?" Natsu asked angrily.

"Remember how I said humans rarely see what they aren't looking for?" Natsu remembered, but what did that have to do with anything. "Three months. You'll know the event when it happens. Be there if you want to see your friends." He said before he disappeared.

"Another afterimage!?" Erza questioned, "He was physically here. When did he manage to slip away?" 

"Hm." Makarov pondered before he turned to his calling card. "You're sure we can trust him."

"No." She answered honestly, "But it's all we can do." She looked towards Natsu who fell down to the ground in a sitting position and buried his eyes in his arms, most likely to hide the tears that were forming. 

"Want me to go after him?" Gildarts asked the master quietly so only they were part of the conversation.

"Yes. Actually." Makarov declared. "You're used to reconnaissance missions. Make sure Lucy and Happy are safe." Gildarts only nodded before walking off in the direction he assumed the trio was in.

\----------  
Unknown Headquarters  
\----------

"Deja vu." A man said. He was dressed in silver armor that was parse across his body, a sword at his left hip and six silver keys on his right. "It appears that Suberashi has done yet another reality merge."

"Hm, what do you think they're trying to hide?" The second man asked. 

"Their presence." A third man answered as he stalked into the room where other members were. He was wearing all black with white accents that matched his youthful pale skin and jet black hair.

"Ah, it's nice of you to join us..." The second man greeted. "Ankhseram."

"Forego the salutations. You know why I'm here." His deep, ancient voice stated.

\----------  
Introduction Alert  
God of Life and Death: Ankhseram  
Magic: Ankhseram Black Magic  
\----------

"Well I assume it has to do with the...'package' that we received." The first man answered.

"What else would he be here for, Rune?" The second man asked.

\----------  
Introduction Alert  
Rune Valier  
Magic: none have lived to report it.  
\----------

"Quit your spatting, you're in the presence of a god." Ankhseram boasted.

"Shut up. You know as well as us that anyone here could take you on." Rune yelled at the deity before him, pulling out his sword in the process. "Can you kill me 6 times before I can kill you once?" He taunted.

"Stay that accursed blade." The god instructed. "There's no need to prove your power, you're one of the few I regard beyond the range of an insect. Now, show me what I'm here for."

Rune put away his sword before he stood up and made his way to the far side of the room where a dark prison cell was. He grabbed a torch and held it forward illuminating the dank cavern. "There he is. Isn't it pitiful. Then again, he was our most useless member, only recruited due to his scientific mind, not because of his actual strength. I wonder what happened to him." 

"It's name was Reaver, yes?" Ankhseram questioned looking at the male who was cowering in the corner of his cell who was holding his head in what looked like agony, before his image flickered. "It has somehow been placed in a position between life and death." He said after a moment of inspection. "Interesting."

"Is this the result of your contradictory curse?" Rune asked.

"No. Tell me. Suberashi and their reality merge." The god started. "What would happen if they merged a reality that contained a deceased person with a reality where said person was alive?"

"Well," Rune gestured towards the cell. "I guess you'd get that. Someone who should be dead, but isn't."

"Exactly. Suberashi has become a problem." Ankhseram looked towards Rune, eyes red. "Exterminate them."

\----------

Next Chapter: One Month Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 1000 hits! I'm honored to be writing this story! Thank you all!


	29. One Month Later

\----------  
Somewhere near the border of Stella and Iceberg  
\----------

"Urano Metria!" A calm female voice suddenly yelled, echoing through the air before a plethora of multicolored orbs appeared and were sent flying, causing the earth to be scarred. However, this time it was mostly just ice that was decimated. The beams of energy persisted for a short while, and as soon as it cleared a man carried by a flying cat came into view and landed by their friend.

"Absolutely impressive." Thorin praised as Happy dropped him down.

"Yea Lucy!" Happy beamed. "You've got that spell down!"

"Well," she admitted, "it's getting there."

"Considering you were in a coma for a week the first time you used Gottfried, and regarding the fact you usually drop after using Urano Metria, I'd say the way you're still standing shows a near form of mastery." The god corrected. "How much magic do you still have?"

"Just around half..."

"You still have half your power left!?" Happy yelled, shocked. "That's ridiculous!"

"Don't be so surprised, Happy. She is a member of Suberashi, after all." Thorin said proudly before Lucy spoke up.

"Thorin!" She got his attention, eagerness on her eyes. "So far you've only let me use Gottfried and Urano Metria. Can I work on my Spirits and Star Dress now?!"

"Well, I mean, if you really want to." He trailed off a little. "And that counts as your question for the day."

"That's totally unfair!" In the three, technically four, weeks since they had began traveling together, Lucy had began to ask an ungodly amount of questions. So much so that Thorin had decided to implement a one question limit per day, much to the Celestial Spirit Mage's dismay. Of course, he wasn't a total stickler and would usually allow follow up questions. At this point, Lucy only regretted the fact that she had asked only useless questions, and not important ones. "I even had a really, really good one for today!" 

"All right, ask me, then we will train." 

"How old are you?" She was ecstatic that he allowed her the question, and she couldn't wait for the answer.

"I have no idea."

"What?!" She spat disappointedly.

"I said, I had no idea."

"No, I mean, how don't you know?" She specified.

"So many questions." He shook his head. "I don't know, because I can't remember anything before two years ago."

"How has that never come up between us?" She was surprised at his answer.

"Because you never asked."

"That's because you limited me to one question a day!!" She yelled angrily at the somewhat oblivious somewhat scattered person before her. But now she at least knew where most of his mind was, which she often questioned, it was sadly gone. "So, you just can't remember anything?"

"I remember waking up and being greeted by the other Suberashi members. They told me that there was an accident and I couldn't remember who I was. They told me I am Thorin, that I am a god, and that I'm a member of their guild."

"They never divulged what exactly happened to you?"

"No, I tried to get it out of them, but apparently they can be difficult. After a while it became taboo to talk about, so I just stopped. Hoping that one day I would remember on my own." He finished.

"That's...sad. I'm sorry, I had no idea." She apologized, despite it being in no way her fault. She just wanted to console her friend.

"It's alright. I'm not alone, apparently. Pulse also doesn't have a memory that spans back two years. I was about to ask him to tell me more, but Acnologia showed up. Looking back, I probably should have had this conversation with him, but I'm sure there's no connection." He assumed.

"Wow!" Happy added his simplistic thought. "So how do you know all this stuff about gods if you can't remember that far back."

"It's mostly intrinsic. I feel, rather than actually know. But anyways. That's the question for the day. I hate talking about myself." He admitted. "Let's get onto your training."

"Awesome!" Lucy beamed. "I have a few ideas actually!"

"As do I." Thorin responded. "But let's see yours first."

"Well, I realized most my strength is probably going to be in strategy. Watch this!" She reached into her pocked and pulled out a handful of keys before waving one that was accented with a harp at the tip. "Open! Gate of the Twins, Gemini!" She yelled enlisting a replica of herself shimmered into existence. She was shocked at how easy it was to summon them. This was the first time she had actually used her keys since she started training with Thorin, and apparently her magic energy had increased. No doubt through the constant uses of Urano Metria and Gottfried.

"Lucy!" Her doppelgänger said excitedly. "We haven't seen you in..." They counted the respective time differences in their head. "A little over a month!"

"Yea! Its been a while, it's great to see you! At least it's only been a few hours for you, right?"

"That's correct!"

"What do you mean, 'only a few hours for them?'" Thorin questioned.

"The Celestial Spirit World moves a lot slower than our own world!" Happy intelligently stated.

"One time, we were there for a whole day, and when we came back three whole months had passed." Lucy added.

"Hm." Thorin began thinking. "A one to ninety ratio of time, their world to ours... Interesting."

"Piri, Piri!" Gemini cried. "Do you want us to do what you were thinking when you summoned us?" 

"Exactly that!" Lucy held out her arm, two more golden keys in hand. "Open! Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" The black axe tip of the key began to fill itself with gold energy. "Open! Gate of Archer, Sagittarius!" The black parts of the arrow also filled in before Gemini, the other Lucy, held out three gold keys of her own.

"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" Golden light spiraled down the ornate design. "Open! Gate of the Lion, Loke!" A small ball of light appeared at the tip of its two fire-like points. "And, Open! Gate of the Paired Fish, Pisces!" Another sphere of energy appeared at the tip of the key's anchor like design.

All at once, the magical energy erupted, golden light shining and seals emerging, bringing life to the Zodiac. Taurus, Sagittarius, Virgo, Leo, and the Mother/Son version of Pisces all fizzled into focus with multiple loud bell rings. 

"You have 6 Zodiac Spirits out at once!?" Happy was stunned.

"Yup!" She said proudly. "Thanks to Gemini, here!" 

"Incredible." Thorin observed. "You used Gemini to copy yourself, thus allowing you three more summons. Most Celestial Spirit Wizards take years to be able to summon one Gold Key per day... This is... Is there any way you could push four?" He questioned, just as stunned as Happy.

"She's reached her limit." Loke intervened, walking forward while straightening his tie. "The fact is, we take an exponential drain to be summoned in this multitude. No one on earth has enough magic power to summon all of us." Loke answered for him. "By the time you get to the last two, you'd be raising the exponential power of the cost by a fair amount. Personally, I wouldn't even show up if Lucy attempted that. It'd kill her." 

"So half is the limit?" Thorin turned to her. "Don't get me wrong, it's still amazing, and their magic level matches yours. This strategy is an overwhelming one, if used correctly."

"That's why I thought of it!" Lucy waived her arm causing her friends to begin glowing. "Thanks everyone, but apparently I can't keep you out for that long." 

"Summon us soon!" Son Pisces charismatically yelled before they all disappeared. 

"Since when have you been able to do that, Lucy?" Happy asked.

"I was able to summon all my spirits at once, just before I got Loke. But it only lasted for a few seconds. Not only is the summon exponentially increased, but so is the drainage over time, I'm afraid. I'm kinda like a battery to them. Their condition depends on my well being, and with that many out, my magic drains fast."

"Did you waste it all? Can you still train?" Thorin asked, not wanting her magic to hit 0 and pass out.

"Nope! If I Star Dress my magic power goes back up!" She smiled extremely happily. "God, I really love my Magic!"

"It's definitely one of the most interesting ones I've seen." Thorin admitted. "I never knew it held so many secrets. So, how about we just train through the Zodiac cycle?"

"Sounds good to me." Lucy admitted before pulling out her oldest key. "Star Dress, Aquarius Form."

\----------  
Fairy Tail Guild Hall  
\----------

"Still no Natsu?" Mira asked concerned as she saw Erza and Gray enter the guild hall, alone.

"Unfortunately, no." Erza confirmed as her and her team mate took a seat at the bar, sadness lingering in her voice.

"We can't get through to him." Gray supplemented before taking a swig of the drink that Mira placed before him. "He's totally out of it." After the 'showdown' with Thorin, the group had begrudgingly returned to Magnolia, physically dragging Natsu back. He constantly resisted return, continuously saying how he had to get to Lucy and how much he needed her. Erza knocked him out halfway home, and when he awoke, depressed barely began to describe his solemn attitude. He had slumped home, tears in his eyes, and locked himself away. At first, he had taken a few jobs, guises for secretly searching for Lucy and Happy, which were against Makarov's orders to 'let her be.' But, around the third week, something finally broke inside him, his spirit, and since then, he hasn't even bothered getting out of bed. If it wasn't for Wendy who was constantly bringing him food, he probably would have starved, not even having the will to take care of himself, let alone go shopping for food.

"This whole mating thing really has him messed up." Mira said.

"And you're sure you saw the marks on Lucy?" Erza questioned.

"Well, no. Like I said, it's fuzzy. But I'm fairly certain." Mira responded solemnly. Natsu wasn't the only one affected by the absence of the Celestial Spirit Mage, all in the guild were missing her. And with Natsu's self imposed absence, Guild morale was lowered even furthered. 

"It doesn't matter." Gray butted in. "The marks on Lucy are only one sign, he's already exhibiting the rest." Natsu was even deeply affecting Gray, not that the latter would ever admit it, despite clearly showing it. He never realized just how close of a connection and how good of a friend Natsu was until now. Their rivalry, although sometimes harsh, always pushed the other to their limits, a way that the one bettered the other. Now, Gray could only watch as Natsu became more and more depressed. His inability to help his friend made him feel horrible.

"There has to be something that can get him motivated." Mira suggested, her usual perkiness masking her inner unhappiness on the subject.

"There has to be something that can get us all motivated." Erza sighed. "With Lucy gone, Natsu imposed, and Wendy taking care of him, our team has fallen apart. Sorry, Gray, but the jobs just aren't as fun without them."

"Don't apologize, you and I just cut to the chase when it comes to jobs..." He admitted.

"Well, why not take Juvia with you?" Mira questioned the duo.

"Eh, it'd be nice, but she's part of team Gajeel, we're team Natsu." Gray answered. He loved his girlfriend, but he knew she enjoyed her missions with her former Phantom Lord guild mate, as well as his girlfriend and her devout followers. Overall, they made a pretty good team.

"Right..." Mira realized her question was mute. "What about Pulse!? He's doing well, but I think he's having a hard time fitting in with a specific group."

"Yes, I suppose. But isn't he off with Gildarts right now?" Erza asked.

"Yea, and they're busy keeping tabs on Lucy. I wish he'd report in already! It's been a friggin month." Gray chided.

"Oh, give him time. We all know he dependable when it matters, but no one has ever said he's prompt." Mira laughed before an elderly man hopped up on the counter, greeting his children. 

"Erza, you're looking well. Gray, you as well. Mira, as always." Makarov acknowledged the three before sensing a sadness within them. "However, you're all still upset, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Yup."

"Mhm." 

"Well. All I can say is that this is Lucy's decision, and all I can hope is that it was the right one. I miss her dearly as well. But we must have faith that she will return to us." Makarov admitted. "However, Natsu is another story. He's given up. Hasn't he?" 

Suddenly the doors at the front of the guild burst open, revealing a smiling blue haired girl, cat following suit, and behind that... "Like hell I'm giving up, Gramps!"

"Natsu!" Most the guild yelled in relief. The newly entered group walked over to their friends at the bar.

"Hey Guys." He greeted before he shamefully put his hand in his pockets, face slightly blushing. "I'm sorry I've been out of it, and I'm sorry I made you worry. But I'm okay now..."

Erza stood up, seemingly angry before she violently pulled him in for a hug. "There's no reason to apologize. A lot has happened to you."

"Yea, it has. But Wendy and Carla helped me realize two things!" Natsu declared proudly, as he pulled away from the crushing hug.

"And?" Gray asked, wanting him to continue.

"One! I, Natsu Dragneel, am in love with Lucy Heartfilia!" He yelled loud enough for most people to hear. 

"A beautiful pair." Makarov declared

"Eeeeeeeek" Mira squealed.

"Awesome, buddy." Gray supported.

"Finally." Was all Erza said. "And the second thing?"

"I've decided I'm going to get her back!" He stated bluntly.

"Uh, we've tried..." Gray started. "Why? How can you, what's different now?"

"I'm going to train, we are all going to train, and we are going to show her that we are just as powerful as that guy she's with!"

"Ah, I see." Mira said. "If we are just as strong, there's nothing she can learn from him that she can't learn from us!" She liked the idea, there was just one problem. "But, Lucy wants to get stronger so she doesn't feel out of place, if she trains only to have us get stronger, she will feel like she's in the same position..."

"And another problem." Erza butted in. "How is she even going to see our strength. We don't exactly know where she is."

"Well, I thought about that... And we can't let her totally leave us in the dust. I love her but we can't just sit around and do nothing until she returns! We need to be just as strong as her when she gets back. That guy with her is tough, and I have no doubt a month of training already has her more powerful. And when she gets back, we can promise to work with her until she passes us all, I know she can!" He finished his mini speech on he topic. There were a few faults and some of it lacked intelligence and critical thinking, but it did the job of motivating his friends. "And as for your problem, Erza, I think we need to display our might in the one place everyone will see it!" He yelled enthusiastically.

"And where might that be, Child?" Makarov asked.

"The Grand Magic Games!"

\----------  
Natsu's House - 30 Minutes Ago  
\----------

"Natsu!" Wendy hollered as she and Carla entered his house. The area was unusually clean, compliments of Wendy, who had taken time to detail every nook and cranny. Normally, the house would have already been back to its unorganized, dilapidated state, but with Natsu solely reclining to his bedroom, he didn't cause any messes. "I brought food! You hungry!?" She yelled to her ailing friend. She wanted to do whatever she could, no matter how little. When she received no response, she yelled again. "Natsu! I said, I have food! Want me to make you something!?" Still no answer. With a sigh, she set the bags of groceries down and walked the hallway in order to get closer to her friend.

She hated going into his room. The first time she entered, she made the mistake of not mentally preparing herself. All of Natsu's wallowing around had left a funky musk in the air, one that wasn't much to the bluenette's liking. The room was a mess, tissues everywhere, some from tears and others from... Well you get the idea. The not so innocent tissues subtly smelled of bleach, which only added to the already pervasive scent of the room, and it was at this time that Wendy realized...boys can be disgusting. 

This time however, she had an ace up her sleeve. Each dragon slayer's sense of smell had a unique feature. Natsu could smell hormones, some could smell certain emotions. But Wendy had a new one. She had trained her nose to the point she could now control the intake of aroma. She could increase it to its maximum, or completely shut off her sense of smell, which she was now doing. "Natsu." She knocked on the door twice before pushing it open. God there were a lot of tissues... Natsu was definitely virile.

She was greeted by a loud mumble, which was most likely a 'go away.' She ignored it and approached the bed before plopping down at the foot of it. "Natsu." She tried getting his attention by pulling down the covers. The newly exposed Natsu just shielded his eyes from the light before finally replying.

"Wudda you want?" He asked tiredly.

"I want you to get out of this funk!" Wendy finally snapped. 

"Why." It wasn't a question, rather pure rhetoric. "Happy is gone. Lucy is gone. They're my family, and there gone." The mentality was sweet, but erroneous.

"We are your family too, Natsu." Wendy spoke softly. "And you're hurting us just as much..." Natsu unshielded his eyes to look at the girl in question. "We care about you, and all anyone can do is sit by and watch you slowly melt away. It hurts."

"You should all just forget about me." Natsu looked away. "Just stop bringing me food, I won't be a problem in two weeks."

Wendy was finally getting agitated. "Sometimes I wish you were never mated to her!!" She yelled, letting a secret, that Natsu wasn't in on, slip. 

"What did you say!?" Natsu sat up, displaying more movement that in the past two weeks. "Mated?" Igneel had talked to him about mating once. It was an undeniable connection to someone that was close to you. He had always assumed it would be to Lisanna, his childhood fried with a colorful and emotional past, that was easiest. But recently, things had begun to get weird. After he was separated from Lucy, wet dreams of the girl had plagued him. They all started with them on a mission that was going south, and just as they were about to die they kissed, confessing their love towards each other. The kiss usually got really, really intimate before he suddenly woke up. He often wondered why the dreams never went further than kissing, but they left an impression. He had no idea it was because the dreams were actually memories, due to the reality merge, and the reason the dreams never went further was because they never actually got further. 

There was also an undeniable and unexplainable pull towards the blonde that was now AWOL. He guessed that he really missed her, but now he just found out that they were actually mated. His subconscious had slowly wrapped around the dreams/memories and between that and the mating, he had apparently begun fall head over heels for the blonde. She was all he thought about, and her absence had him completely depressed.

"You just said mated! But how!?" Natsu questioned, hoping she would have the answer.

"I'm not sure." She didn't deny it. "Something must have happened at Crocus. What I know is you now share a bond stronger than any matrimony, and how would Lucy feel if she came home and saw you like this?"

Natsu thought for a moment. His current state could be summed up by one word. Pitiful. She was off bettering herself, and he was here doing nothing except crying and masturbating. Pathetic. There's another word to describe the situation. "She wouldn't be too happy."

"And him too, what would Happy say to you about this?" 

"He'd tell me to get up and win Lucy back." He answered. 

"That does sound like him." Carla spoke walking into the room. "Natsu, I noticed this when I was cleaning the other day." She walked over and hopped up onto the bed before handing him a sheet of paper with a post card attached at the bottom. "I just thought that this might help, in whatever way you find useful."

Natsu unfolded the paper. It was a job request, the job where he had to get rid of the Vulcans in the mountain and save Macao. He laughed at how little the sum was and the nostalgia of the journey. He was so young, so inexperienced. But then he read the sloppy handwritten note he left on the bottom. 'The quest I preformed with Lucy for the first time!!'

He reminisced further. This was back before he friend zoned her. Back when Lisanna was gone and his feelings were clear. He was so excited that she went with him, and completely thrilled that she had decided to join his team. How could he have hurt her to the point of her leaving the guild? He cared for her so much. But now he knew that it was different, that it was more. Seeing the note reminded him. He loved the Celestial Spirit Mage. He loved her more than anyone or anything else. How could he have been so dense? He never stopped loving her, he only ignored his feelings and suppressed them so he would never feel what he felt with Lisanna when she died. If he did happen to loose Lucy, if she was somehow killed, he had no idea what he would do. If Lisanna upset him that deeply, Lucy meeting her end...he would probably try take his own life. It was love. Crazy, stupid, wonderful love. You couldn't even mate with someone unless you exalted them well beyond others. Lucy was the exalted, and he had to win her back!

"I love Lucy!" He declared, throwing the covers off his body and standing up, a new fire sparking to life inside him. "Come on, Wendy. Let's go to the Guild, I gotta apologize for not being myself."

"Uh. Natsu..." He looked at her, noticing Carla trying to cover her now red face. "You should probably shower and get ready....or at the very least get dressed first." He looked down to find that he was naked. Normally he didn't care who saw him stark, but Wendy was far too young. 

"Oh, crap. Sorry!" He yelled before running into the bathroom.

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Ecliptic: Part 1

 

Bonus Chapter  
Chapter 29.5 - Sting and Rogue, Part 1

\----------  
Sabertooth Guild Hall  
\----------

"Ah, Sting!" Yukino exclaimed as said male walked in through the front doors. "We're happy you're back!" 

The reality merge. It had severely screwed up the history of the Sabertooth Guild. Originally, after Sting had accepted a job and ran away, he had returned only to be greeted by Natsu and Lucy. He would have immediately set out on another job, but fortunately Rogue, after ignoring him, took off with Frosch doing their own work. He had then traveled with the Fairies to Crocus, where they faced off against Motherpulse. They lost, only to be saved by the sudden appearance of a deity, a god, whose friend then warped them back home. But not before Rogue and Stimg had finally repaired things between them and Rogue had reciprocated Sting's feelings. 

Now, none of that happened. What was once history was now but dreams and the chain of events was much simpler. When Sting had returned from his first mission, Rogue had dismissed him. And the next day, he noted that Rogue was gone, off on his own job. He had some time to gather his thoughts and decide what to do next. Rogue was due back soon, however, and he had to plan faster than he would have liked. He eventually just decided on accepting another solo mission. A more dangerous one, this time. One that would either leave his body as hurt on the outside as it was on the inside, or one that would just leave him as a corpse somewhere, thus ending the pain. Both options seemed deplorably fine to him. He brushed past a few questioning guild members before he pulled the first SS-Class mission off of the board and turned it in before departing, hoping that when he returned, if he returned, that Rogue would be on another mission, and he wouldn't have to see the other male. 

But, now he was back with, sadly, only a few minor injuries, and he was currently being greeted by a girl who he really didn't want to see. "Thank you." Was all he said to Yukino before he checked in with their calling card and exited the Guild, heading home.

"Heya, Sting!" He was interrupted by a familiar voice, the oldest voice he knew that was still alive.

"Hi, Lector." Sting forced a smile for his friend, who he had begun to slowly push away. He didn't want Lector to be caught up by his internal mess.

"Hey, how've you been? People have been worried about you." The exceed relayed.

"I'm fine, just tired. I'm going to go home and sleep. I'll catch you later." Sting placed his hands in his pockets and was walking away before he even finished his goodbye.

"Sting, wait!" Lector called. Sting stopped walking, but didn't turn around, allowing Lector to finish whatever he was about to say. "Uh, Rogue. He's been looking for you."

Wetness tugged at his eyes. "He...he has?" Sting asked hopefully.

"Yea!" Lector replied, seemingly happy before things took a turn. "He seems really pissed."

Sting only resumed walking, not wanting his friend to see the tears that were now pouring down his checks. He would go home and go to sleep. Things were better in the dream world. Rogue actually accepted him there. If only he knew...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks again!


	30. The Ecliptic: Part 1

\----------  
Training: Aquarius Form  
\----------

"Star Dress: Aquarius Form!" Lucy proudly announced as she placed her formerly destroyed key on her chest. Her whole body began to glow a dull blue before the light fully enveloped her and suddenly disappeared, leaving her outfitted in a sea green two-piece bikini. Her hair was parted from its typical ponytail into loosely hanging waves, tied together in two distinct parts at the top with a large black zigzag tattoo, aquarius' symbol, appearing above the key.

"Looking hot, Lucy!" Happy yelled, cheering his friend on.

Thorin blushed at the sight before him. "Aquarius. So you are able to control water in this form?"

Lucy thought for a second. "Actually...it's kinda unconscious. The water, that is. So I wouldn't say 'control.'" 

"The water moves on its own?" He asked. 

"Well, the first time I used this was against Tartarous." She reminisced.

"The dark guild composed of demons?" Thorin asked. "I often wondered what happened to them."

"They were eliminated." She answered. "But that was the turning point for me, I think. Everyone was defeated, I alone stood against the enemy. Aquarius was keeping a demon with the power of explosions at bay. But he was one of their strongest, one of the 'Nine Demon Gates.' Unfortunately, holding him off was all she could do, and that's when she told me about a 'recompense summoning,' the only way to summon the Celestial Spirit King."

"Were you able to summon him?!" Happy asked, despite all her efforts and progress at defeating part of Tartarous, no one from her guild actually knew that she did anything. Natsu was the only one who believed that she had anything to do with them being freed. 

"Yes, he was able to immediately destroy Alegria, which was their entire mobile base as well as an enormous unbound demon. While he was fighting the King of Hades, he bestowed Aquarius' power on me. My opponent, Jackal, the explosion demon, was trying his hardest to blow me up, but the water blocked everything. With the increase of power, I was able to cast Urano Metria and end him."

"Impressive." Thorin admitted, Happy was still in disbelief that Lucy had actually gone through all this. "So you can unconsciously protect yourself from all damage. That's a useful power."

"Yea, this form also gives me highest power boost, it gives me as much magic power as I have at full, so when I'm full it doubles it."

"In conjuncture with Urano Metria and Gottfried that's amazing!" Thorin knew this form would be a strong, strong form. "You gain a free casting of both due to the power increase and a near impervious defense while casting!"

"I know." Lucy giggled at how excited he had become. "But do you think we can make this form stronger?" 

"Well, I have a few ideas, but truthfully this form is already extraordinarily powerful. I'd keep what it offers for now."

"But why not let her improve it!?" Happy defended against his stance.

"Evangeline de Sansouci."

"What?" Lucy asked.

"A who. A member of Suberashi, currently number 3, but that could change with your power." He smiled. "She is a gifted water Mage. She can help you with Aquarius' type of magic."

"Wow! So question of the day, time?" Lucy asked.

"Go for it."

"Who are the other members and what specifically are their powers?" 

"So position number one is a guy names Es Allister. He's happy go lucky, immature, bashful, actually he's a lot like your dragon slayer friend." Thorin smiled, so did Lucy, maybe fitting in wouldn't be so difficult. "His power is vast, and it deals with changing the magnetic physical properties of objects. He can freely control all forms of metal, and by using magnetism he can even mimic my weight change magic. The magnetism aspect also grants him very powerful lightning magic. He's also a gifted combatant and typically relies on just his own metallic armor for most of his fights."

"Wow, that's really cool actually!" Lucy praised.

"Yea! I've never heard of anything like it!" Happy agreed.

"Then the second position is held by Orenda Keynote. You've already met. Her power is like nothing else on this earth, or any of them, I should say. Not only can she look into all other realities, or merge them, or suspend them, but she can also bring things in from other realities. Meaning she can do anything."

"How so?" Lucy asked, not following.

"Because, each action that we take, there is at least one action that we didn't take. That action, or actions, that we didn't make go on in another world. Due to that, there are an absolute infinite amount of worlds. Due to that, anything she can think of, no matter how far fetched, is happening in another sub-infinite amount of realities. That's the true definition of 'infinite.' She wants a train to hit you, then there's a reality where a rail road was built underneath your feet with a train ten inches from you." He finished. "It's a complex idea, but she shouldn't be underestimated. Personally, I'd give her the top position."

"That's incredible."

"Then we have Evangeline. A cheerful girl, despite her power."

"Water isn't cheerful?" Lucy joked.

"Water is her general power, more specifically she deals in Blood Magic."

"Ew!" Happy yelled. "Can she give people hepatitis?"

"What? No. Well. Maybe. Blood Magic is powerful. Rather than spending magic energy to preform spells, she is able to sacrifice some of her blood. The spell, now feeding off of life energy, becomes immeasurably strong. In conjuncture with her water magic, she can control all fluids in an opponents body, literally making them a puppet."

"That's...." Lucy didn't have the words.

"Macabre. Well not all of it, with her control of blood, she also has a unique healing gift. She can heal others by regulating the flow and causing division of cells. She can even do it to herself. I've seen her be nearly decapitated only to have the side that was first cut heal before the blade has exited the other."

"Someone actually managed to get that close to a Suberashi member?" She noticed.

Thorin let out a dry chuckle. "Fairy Tail isn't the only Guild with enemies. Keep that in mind."

Lucy didn't believe that, who had power to match these guys? They sounded ridiculously strong!

"Then there's me, and you, and Happy."

"I'm a member!?" Happy yelled excitedly.

"Yea, why not?" Thorin said nonchalantly. "Alright! Next form?"

Lucy immediately nodded before she pulled out another key. "Star Dress: Pisces!"

\----------  
Training: Pisces Form  
\----------

As Lucy magically attached the key to her chest she began, once again, to glow. The light shortly fizzled out revealing a wardrobe change. This time, she was dressed in a full body battle suit. It was or mated with green scale armor pads near the joints, where movement would be required, and the stiff areas, such as forearms, were garmented with thick leather pads. Those lighter areas, void of armored scales, no doubt allowed for higher mobility, and the scaled parts, protecting vitals and soft spots, not only allowed for an increase in defense, but also made her look like a mermaid. 

"Wow! I've never seen this form, Lucy!" Happy exclaimed as Lucy held out her arm to the side, a trident suddenly glowing into existence.

"Yup, it's a combat form, it gives me a relatively low magic boost, but I get this cool weapon."

"It's Pisces, the Paired Fish, right?" Thorin asked.

"Yup!" Lucy said happily. 

"Does it give you water magic also?"

"Yes, it does."

"Evangeline. Next!" He instructed, not wanting to deal with water right now.

\----------  
Training: Taurus Form  
\----------

Lucy pulled out the next key in the cycle. "Star Dress..."

"Wait!" Thorin yelled, she stopped the spell. "Actually let's go back to Pisces."

\---------  
Training: Pisces Form...Again  
\---------

"What? Why'd you want me to stay in this form?" She asked annoyed.

"Well, because, I can at least train you on the combat part." He realized. "So, can you also summon the spirit while you're in this form?"

"Yes, actually, I can." She said proudly. "But... It counts as my second summon. So if I summon two spirits and Star Dress then that's my 3."

"So when you summoned half the zodiac..." Lucy cut him off, finishing the answer.

"I was unable to Star Dress..."

"Ah, I see. Well, that's a limitation we can work around. Let's focus on Pisces now, can you summon them? Does that count as two since there's two bodies?"

"No just one. And which form do you want?" She asked.

"Form?"

"Pisces has two forms, it's bound form, where they both appear humanoid. In that form they offer precision and speed and have water magic. Then there's its unbound form, where they appear as two long, giant monstrous fish. Basically, that form has more strength as they can plow through earth and crash into opponents, dealing damage on a larger, unconfined scale."

"Summon the bound formal they can help me help you train. But in the future, I want to get to the point where you can Star Dress and summon their unbound forms. Kind of like a knight and it's dragon combo."

"Oh, that totally reminds me!" Lucy exclaimed. 

"Oh yea! You got that new key! Didn't you, Lucy?" Happy beamed.

"New key?"

"Draco." Lucy answered. "Hisui gave it me because she didn't have enough magic energy to summon him, and I thought I didn't either. After that, I totally forgot! But now, I have no doubt I can summon him." 

"We will get to him soon enough." Thorin told her, "Now, can you summon Pisces?"

Lucy only held her arm up in front of her, fully extended, before she waived it to the side, hand glowing the whole duration. "Pisces." She said as they fizzled into existence. 

"Hi Mom." Son said.

"I'm not your mom, Pisces."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Thorin interrupted the reunion. "Did you just summon them without the key in your hand?" He was attempting to gain a better insight to her powers. Clearly he didn't know everything she was capable of.

"Well, yea, the key was on my chest, I couldn't exactly remove it." 

"So you don't need to be touching a key to summon?"

"No."

"And the key has to touch your body in order to Star Dress?"

"That's correct!" Lucy became cocky before her curiosity kicked in. "Why do you ask?" 

"So far, I've had a few ideas that could make you more powerful. But this one is definitely the most useful, I believe."

"What is it!?" Happy yelled in suspense.

"What if I could make your holder-type magic into a caster-type?" He asked, smiling.

"Well that'd be amazing!" She admitted remembering how limited she used to be without her keys. If they were ever taken or lost, she couldn't do anything. Now, she could at least cast Urano Metria freely. But other that that and Gottfried, if her keys were taken, she was still powerless. "But how?"

"A lacrima." He answered. "A Holding Lacrima, to be specific."

"Won't that destroy my keys!?" She cried. "I don't want to sacrifice them just so I can have power! The keys should live long after myself!" She yelled.

"Calm down." He instructed. "A Holding Lacrima is specifically designed for holder-types. You can place your magic object, like Celestial Spirit Keys, inside it and take them out whenever you like. Normally it's only used to house things, like storage almost, so normally there is no benefit. But in your case... You can summon if the key is near, and you can Star Dress if the key is touching you. Summoning will become a spell at the waive of your hand, and Star Dress will basically become a Magical Requip. I have a feeling this lacrima will be perfect for you."

"Really!? That's awesome! Where can we find one?!" 

"No idea..." 

"Oh."

"Happy, could you go fly and scout out the nearest large city. If there's a magic shop then they might sell it."

"Aye!" He immediately took off into the sky.

"I can see your increase in power, Lucy." Mother Pisces acknowledged. "You've become a very powerful wizard. This lacrima will only further your strength."

Lucy was touched by her words, she would miss the feeling of a key in her hands, but it was a skill price to pay for never being left helpless again. "Thank you, Pisces, your support means a lot."

"Well, while Happy checks to see if they even have one,don't get your hopes up, we should resume training. Now, Pisces. Go after Lucy with everything you've got."

The Mother and Son duo looked towards their master in question. "Ya, do what he says, I guess." Then they attacked.

\----------

A full two hours later and Lucy was exhausted. The two spirits in her control were relentless attackers. Blocking, parrying, countering, all with an unfamiliar spear like weapon. It was tortuous to her body, but at least she was finally managing to get the hang of it. "Hey!" She stopped the two spirits attacking her. "I'm tired, could we move onto the next spirit for now? Sorry Pisces, you've been great, just a lot."

"Yes, we can move on, thank you for all your assistance, Pisces. She's come a long way in a few hours."

"Bye everyone!" The Mother and Son said in unison before they fizzled back to the Celestial Spirit World.

"Alright, Lucy, you ready for your next form?"

\----------  
Training: Taurus Form  
\----------

"Star Dress: Taurus...." Lucy was once again interrupted.

"Wait!" Thorin yelled.

"What now!?" She raised her voice in question.

He snickered. "Just kidding."

She shook her head in dismissiveness before extending a new key. "Star Dress: Taurus Form!" She began to glow a bright yelled the moment the key touched her skin. The light slightly changed shape before it bust outward revealing a new Lucy, new outfit, and he's powers. Her hair was now pulled back in two intricate buns, a single strand hanging loose in the front. She now sported a pair of skin-tight, black leather pants, one leg's fabric missing just below the start of her calf, exposing her bare leg. A pair of knee high, brown leather boots matched the large belt that held the pants, and her top section was covered by a cow print sports bra. A leather checker necklace, accented with a small bell, hung tightly around her neck. Lastly a tight, stand alone, sleeve rested on her arm opposite the unclothed leg. "Moo." Lucy cooed sexually.

"That wasn't sexy." He rejected despite the prominent blush on his face. Didn't this girl have more outfits like Pisces?

"Whatever! Go ahead and take away from my entrance. I thought it was cool..." She admitted sadly. "This is my strongest form!" Her demeanor suddenly shifted to pride. 

"Overall? Or physically? Or...?"

"Physically, of course!" She immediately turned around and pulled out her whip cracking it forward, violently rupturing the ground in a large are in front of her, causing the whole ground to shake. 

"Well....shit." Thorin said as she caused the mini earthquake. What would the effect be if that hit someone? "How much magic did that use?" He asked, balancing himself as the earth stopped shaking.

"Only a little." She looked back and smirked. "Equal parts magic and strength. The latter is limitless in this form."

"Limitless?"

"Well, I think so, there's a personal cap, but the potential goes on and on." 

"Doesn't Taurus usually have an axe?" She noodled with an 'mhm.' "Can you use it?" She wrapped the whip around her arm and attached it to a holster near her behind before she held out her hands, an axe suddenly materializing.

"This is Labrys, Taurus' axe. Whoa!" She cried as the axe suddenly weighed more. "Thorin!"

"I doubled the axe's weight." He stated.

"Yea, but why!?" She strained as she tried to hold the immensely and unusually heavy weapon.

"I'm placing you in a new threshold. Allow me to monologue while you...do that..." Lucy chucked. "You're going to adapt to the weight so that a million pound 'Labrys' will be common place. While you're holding that, you will move normally. Not only is your strength going be unrivaled, but if you haven to drop the axe then... Well, I'm not sure how fast you'll move exactly. But this will definitely become your physically strongest, most durable, and fastest form. I promise you."

"That's...great...how much...weight...?" She was now seriously straining at the slow increase of pounds Thorin was adding.

"Just around 50."

"Only 50!?"

"Fifty hundred." He grabbed his head and sighed as if he had been crystal clear.

"Wow...that's...oh crap!" She almost lost grip on the weapon.

"10,000, wow, the strength is really limitless, and the adaptation level is remarkable." Well, he certainly hoped this plan works.

\----------

"Luuuucccccyyy! Thooooooriiiiin!!!!!!!" Happy cried as he approached the two.

"Happy.....hi....." Lucy strained as she bench-press squatted the axe that was held behind her neck.

"What's she doing, Thorin?" Happy asked. 

"Well, that bar weighs ten thousand pounds." 

"What!?!?" Happy yelled. "How does it weigh so much!?" 

"My magic, remember?" 

"Oh, yea, but what's lifting that much going to do?"

"You'll see shortly." He smiled, if these past two hours were any indicator, this was going to be cool. "Oh, did you manage to find a city?"

"I did even better!" Happy's stubby arms reached around his torso, pulling his nap sack free. His stubby hand dove into its depths and pulled out a relatively rectangular crystal shape. "Is this it?"

Thorin took it from his outstretched arms and inspected it. "Yes, this is it, actually. Where'd you find it?"

"I went into a lot of magic shops, but none had any unused lacrima for sale. Finally I found a shop that had a few unused ones for sale, but they were so expensive!!"

"So how did you afford it?" 

"I didn't, I stole it." He admitted, proudly.

"Well I certainly hope this is a normal behavior trait and that I'm not a bad influence on you." He laughed. "But good job, I guess."

"Anything for Lucy! She's one of my best friends!"

"Is that so?" Thorin smiled, happy usually has that effect on him. The cat was so simply....well...happy. He often enjoyed their conversations.

"Yea! I have her and I have Natsu! Then there's Erza, kinda Gray, Wendy and, oh, Carla!" He cooed the last name. "And now there's you too!" 

Thorin smiled. "So, this Carla, you like her?"

"Oh yea, I really like her, even more than fish!" He admitted. "That's why I wanted to go with you and Lucy, so I could get strong so she will fall in love with me." 

"Happy," Thorin's demeanor suddenly turned darker, his typical smile disappearing. "Having more power rarely means having more happiness..." He sounded as if he spoke from experience, but then he resumed smiling. "Anyways, you will become stronger, I promise you, but as for now, I can help you cheat a little." He snapped his fingers, but nothing seemed to happen.

"What did you just do?" He asked.

"I slightly decreased the weight of your bones, you should be able to fly faster now. Roughly 20% faster by my calculations."

"That's great! Thank you!" 

"No problem. You ready to see Lucy's progress?" With an eager nod from happy he turned to the girl still straining under the immense amount of weight. "Lucy!" He yelled, catching her divided attention.

"....yea? Oh whoa!" She sighed at the sudden relief of the pressure on top of her. "Ah, you made it weigh nothing, this feels good." Thorin began to laugh. "And what's so funny?" She pouted.

"You're still carrying 5,000 pounds!" 

"Holy cow!" Oh, what a pun.

"Yup! Now move around." She did as he instructed.

"Okay? I feel like normal.." She admitted.

"Exactly what I wanted! Now go walk 50 yards away, drop the axe and run towards us? You'll be much faster." He told her, she followed as he asked and upon getting far enough with her normal walking speed, she turned around, dropping the axe. As it hit the ground, the stone cracked violently under the weight of the dropped item. 

"Oops!" She yelled, jumping back slightly.

"It's fine, just get in a running stance and sprint towards us!" He yelled over the distance. Lucy took up a running stance and stared at how far off Happy and. Thorin were, not that far, but she didn't feel like this training would make that much of a distance. "Ready?! Go!!" Thorin yelled and Lucy pressed forward on her heel, moving forward and then disappearing....

"Wait! Where did she...." He was silenced by Lucy suddenly appearing in front of him, a large amount of displaced wind knocking him slightly back followed by the resounding crack of someone breaking the sound barrier. Lucy had gone supersonic!

"Whoa! How did I...." 

"Wow, that was... I didn't expect you to reach mach speed! That's faster than I've ever seen anyone move! Heck, I didn't even see it!" He was shocked, so was the exceed who was flinched back due to the rush of wind.

"You're even faster than Racer!" He applauded.

"Now, your strength should also be immensely increased, go punch that tree." He instructed causing Lucy to walk up to the evergreen and punch, which immediately shattered the trunk. 

"Holy..."

"Don't say cow!" Thorin cut her off.

"That was nothing!" She was impressed at her own strength.

"Well, just remember people with magical resistance will fell less of a blow, but I think your Taurus training is complete, for now." 

"Thank you! So much! This is amazing." She suddenly disappeared, another sonic boom resounding as she appeared on top of a distant cliff. "So I can move is fast, and if can punch with the force of a ten thousand pounds!" Her voice echoed off the icy mountains.

"Well, no, that's how much you can lift, sorry to say but you probably punch much less..." He looked down in regret. "Next form?" She boomed back to his position.

\----------  
Training: Aries Form  
\----------

"Oh, you have the lacrima!?" She noticed the slightly illuminated crystal Thorin was holding.

"Thanks to Happy here."

"Can we use it!" She was eager to become a pure caster type.

"I was gonna hold off until you completed training the zodiac cycle, and maybe a few silver keys." Thorin revealed. "Unless you really want to?" 

"I think I do, I'll miss my keys, but they'll be a part of me this way, and I can always get them out? Right?" This was still a concern for her.

"Yes, so long as you get some third party that can remove lacrima, it'll be easy. I can even remove it, it's not complex. Just kind of like magically pulling a splinter out."

"Oh, okay, so let's do it! How do we start?"

"Take out all your keys." She reached towards the holster at her hip and began detaching the keys, one by one. This was another thing she disliked, getting the keys out was took a lot longer that you would actually think. This way there would be no delay. "Here's the 12 Zodiacs." She handed all the gold keys over, Thorin simply began taking each key and touching it to the surface of the lacrima, which instantly and slowly sucked in the keys before they drifted towards the center.

"Here watch." He said as he held his hand towards the side, Aquarius's key floating towards the surface before emerging. "Seem it comes out if you need it." She was now fully relieved. She watched as Thorin finished placing all 12 Gold Ksys into the lacrima before she handed him her 8 silver.

"Corona, Crater, Auriga, Lyra, Crux, Horologium, Plue, Pixys." She reminisced briefly. "In you go!" The keys floated to the center, all evenly spaced. She held out her hand, one key left.

"What's wrong?" Thorin asked, noticing her hesitation. 

"This is Draco, my black key." 

"Well, put him in, you can make your contract later. Let's just finish this, do Aries, call it a day, do the next four tomorrow, and the remaining ones after that, then you can do Draco. Sound good?" 

"I am pretty tired, your schedule sounds good." She acknowledged before touching the key to the lacrima which absorbed it. "That's all of them."

"You ready to put it inside you?"

"Yea, how long does it take...." She stopped asking as Thorin held the lacrima between his hands. It began to glow gold before bursting outward into dozens of tiny balls of light. It briefly looked like the cosmos before all the particles rushed towards Lucy and made contact with her skin. The orbs rested briefly before they slowly entered her. "Oh it....tickles...it's warm." She reveled in the feeling of her magic entering her system.

"There, done." Thorin stated.

"That fast? Isn't the process usually hours?"

"Usually... But I've researched this a lot, plus I inserted it with Willpower instead of magic. As your will didn't oppose mine in the slightest, it was easy to do."

"Oh, so that's part of how your power works. I feel, different, the glowing feeling I feel when using my magic...it's inside me now. I like it."

"I'm glad, now do you want to see if you can even use your magic? This could have been worthless..."

Lucy stood up before she began to glow without saying a word. This time a pink light enveloped her only to disappear revealing her dressed up in a white frilly top and mini skirt. She was basically wearing Aries's outfit, with the shortness of the skirt being the only difference. "I guess it works!"

"Can you still summon?" Her hand began to glow as she waved her arm across her front, causing a larger light to appear which lessened to reveal Aries. 

"Lucy! Sorry..." 

"Aries! It worked, I can still summon you!"

"Sorry for asking, but why couldn't you summon me?" She timidly questioned.

"I placed all my keys in a lacrima inside myself. Now I'm a caster type! You don't mind, do you!?" She suddenly realized she hadn't asked anyone's permission.

"Not at all! In fact it's good, now you can't loose our keys! They're with you, where they belong."

"Thank you, Aries." 

"Okay, so, what can this form of yours do?" Thorin spoke up. "It's nice to meet you, by the way, I'm Thorin, he outstretched his arm to the lamb, who immediately blushed as pink as her hair.

"I'm...I'm...Aries. Sorry!" She was too timid. But her face, her appearance, Thorin was deeply staring at her. Lucy noticed the awkward exchange between the two.

"Thanks for coming, Aries, you can go back now." Lucy smiled at her. She would ask Thorin about that look later.

"Yes, thank you! Goodbye." She fizzled into a familiar glowing light before dispersing, disappearing. 

"So this form?" Thorin regained his composure.

"Gives me wool magic. It's used for defense, mostly. And offensively it can be thrown to bind or subdue opponents, it also makes them drowsy."

"That's useful. How well of a handle do you have on this form?"

"Pretty good actually. I actually just need to refine the magic, but I can do that on my own." 

"Would you like to call it a day then?" He looked at Happy who had remained quiet throughout this. "Oh, he's already asleep. Maybe we should follow. You've had a long day."

"Yea, I agree." She waved her arm a new spirit fizzling into existence. 

"How can I hall you, mistress?" The familiar charioteer greeted.

"Hi, Erich. Can you drive us while we sleep again? Sorry..."

"Not a problem, we, in the Spirit World, all know what you're up to. You're exhausted so don't apologize or feel sorry in the slightest." He looked towards the other male who gently picked up a sleeping exceed. "Thorin." He greeted.

"Erich, nice seeing you again."

"Likewise. Our destination is still the Pergrand Kingdom, right?"

"Exactly." They all climbed into the back of the car before they took off, covering more distance while they slept off the tires of the day.

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Wendy!" Erza yelled over the climactic part of their mission. "Enchant Gray! He's low on magic and we need his defenses!"

"Right!" The bluenette's agreed before a magic seal appeared beneath the ice wizards feet, replenishing him with magic. 

"Thanks!" Gray yelled over the roar of battle.

An enemy charged forward, "I'm gonna destroy this petals if it's the last thing I do!" Gray froze him solid.

"Stand your ground!" Erza commanded. "We must protect the orchids, they're fragile!"

"What the fuck mission are we on?" Natsu yelled. Recently, a cult had formed that directly opposed the well being of Orchid petals. The job asked that powerful Mages take on the request in order to protect a city's remaining petals from the cultists, who apparently came and destroyed one orchid every night. To make matters even stranger, the reward was astronomical. This was definitely the weirdest mission they had ever accepted. 

Mission: Protect our Orchids!  
Reward: 10,000,000 J  
Description: Recently, a new and powerful cult has banned together. Each night, these madmen pillage through our city. Each visit is not without casualties, mind you. Every night, a life of one of our children is stolen. This atrocity can not be allowed to continue. Please. We ask that powerful wizards step forward in order to protect us from these unfathomable horrors. Thank you.

Signed: Herbert 

The 'children,' as the Fairies came to realize, were flowers, of which Herbert was deluded into perceiving as actual entities. It was ridiculous, but it payed well. 

"Oh my gods!" Wendy yelled, pointing at an approaching 'cultist,' who was realistically just one of the kids from a group playing pranks on the flower owner. "He's got sheers!!" 

TO BE CONTINUED

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Ecliptic, Part 2

 

Bonus Chapter  
Chapter 30.5 - Sting and Rogue, Part 2

\----------  
Sting's House  
\----------

A pounding at the front door caused Sting's eyes to flicker open from his self imposed, depressive sleep. Bang. Bang. Bang. He wondered who it could be, but his recent awakening no doubt left his voice unable to call out.

"Sting! I know you're in there!" It was Rogue. Rogue was angrily yelling at him through the thick walls of the apartment. Bang. Bang. Bang. Sting curled up in a ball, holding his knees close to his chest. He wrapped the blankets around his position in hopes to somehow shield himself from the harshness of the outside world. 

"Open up! God damn it!" Bang. Bang. Bang. Why couldn't he just go away? He had already hurt Sting enough, didn't he know that? Quietly, the blonde began to silently cry. Rogue picked up on the salty scent.

"Sting, I can smell you in there!" Bang. Bang. Bang. "Fuck, asshole!" Rogue roared. Sting couldn't handle it any more. He had to leave. His job requests temporarily dulled most the pain, but whenever he returned the negative emotions returned. Love wasn't supposed to be this way. Love was bright, warm, compassionate. This love was full of angst, pain, and hurt. He had to leave, but first he had to do something that pained him. He had to once and for all say goodbye to Rogue. He couldn't directly say it, however. The man outside sounded as if he'd do nothing less than kill Sting if he got ahold of him. Sting was considering that option. He was the minority, the outcast, the weak. The beliefs of other jaded him into viewing being gay as an inferiority. He had tried his hardest to mask his weakness with power, but it didn't work. He just had to go and fall in love with his best friend, who was straight. Loving Rogue shamed them both, and he dint blame the raven for hating the abomination that he was. It was stupid to ever even like him. Rogue was perfect, gay went against that...

Silently, Sting stood up, ignoring the pounding at the door. Sting couldn't kill himself, he was too much of a coward. He couldn't admit his feelings and he was too scared to take his own life. He was pathetic. He walked over to his desk and took out a pen and paper. By the time he was done writing, the pounding stopped and he checked to make sure Rogue was gone. He grabbed his usual backpack that he took on missions, all his cash, and left for the post office. 

\----------

Rogue thought that maybe he had smelled wrong, perhaps Sting wasn't at his house. He went to check the other places his friend might be, but found nothing. When Sting had accidentally ran into him and Yukino behaving in animalistic behavior, he had chased after his friend, thinking he had a thing for the Celestial Spirit Mage. He was stunned when his friend let it slip that he was in love with him. Sting had then taken off and the only reason Rogue didn't go after him was because he didn't know how to process it at the time. He would have to let Sting down, gently, they were best friends, but he just didn't see the other male that way. Sting finally returned, only to ignore Rogue, who by this time, sadly, believed their friendship was already ruined, left in shambles by feelings. Sting was dismissive of him, he clearly didn't want to talk, so he wouldn't approach the subject. Rogue, sadly, had to let him be for now. 

However, shortly after that day, something strange seemed to happen. Rogue had begun to have very lucid dreams about his best friend. The dreams were hardly platonic; them kissing, usually frotting against each other. It was...arousing to say the least. He didn't see Sting for a month, but got to experience the dreams every night. Over that month he slowly came to realize he also had feelings for the other man, or maybe the feelings slowly developed from the constant stream of wet dreams. Either way, the feelings would be great, if they were both in contact, which they weren't. As soon as Sting came home again, he went back to his house. Rogue even tried to get his attention, not that Sting had actually noticed. Here Rogue was, having these confusing as hell feelings, and the only person who could help clarify them was still ignoring him. He was pissed. He had gone to Sting's house in hopes to knock some sense into the other male, and maybe do something more, hopefully do something more... But he was still being met with silence.

As he entered the guild hall, Yukino ran up to him with tears in her eyes. "Yukino!" He grabbed her shoulders, "What's wrong!?" He asked concerned.

"I...I..it's Sting, we just got a letter from him." She said sadly, although her eyes were watery she kept her composure. "He left a letter." 

As she held it out, Rogue grasped it from her grip and read the poorly written and sparse words. Were they written in blood? They certainly smelled like Sting's blood... He slowly read the note.

'Im leaving Sabertooth. It's become too hard to be here any more. Rogue Cheney is new Guild Master.

-Sting Eucliffe'

"Damn it!" Rogue yelled as he handed the paper back to Yukino. He turned around, violently walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?!" She called to her former lover. He had ended things roughly around the time he started having strange dreams, which she accepted and supported. 

"I'm going to bring that idiot back!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you like it please review! My reviewers mean a lot to me!


	31. The Ecliptic: Part 2

\----------  
Training: Gemini Form  
\----------

"Rise and shine!" Thorin eagerly called as he shook the sleeping blonde who was cuddling a certain blue cat. Erich did an amazing job at covering ground and late last night they had set up camp just outside the borders of Pergrand Kingdom. All three individuals were thrilled to leave the icy tundra of Iceberg and finally enter a slightly, just slightly, warmer climate. However, despite finally reaching the country of their destination, they were still only half way to actually arriving at the Suberashi base. They had already crossed the full length of three other countries to get here, but that's just testament to how large the Pergrand Kingdom was. Then again, the Capitol country of Ishgar was bound to be the largest. 

Hearing Thorin's voice and feeling his soft touch gently shaking her awake, Lucy began to stir, "Mmmm." She grunted, and she released some of her dreariness with a calming stretch. "Why'd you wake me?" She yawned. "I was dreaming about Natsu..." She suddenly turned crimson when she remembered some of the more private details of the dream. Unlike others, she remained unaffected by the reality merge, so her dreams were actually dreams instead of forgotten memories. 

"I woke you up cause I was up..." Thorin stated. "...and I was bored."

"That's not a good reason." Lucy's words prompted Happy to stir. "Let's go somewhere else and let him sleep some more." She said, giving Happy the pleasure of extended sleep she wasn't allotted.

"Sure." They both stood back up and walked away from their camping area. "So, you really like this boy."

"Yea." Lucy blushed. "I do."

"Oh, it wasn't a question." He put her in her place. "It was an observation."

"Well yea, considering you saved us both when we were kissing, it should be obvious..."

"And the fact that you say his name a lot in your sleep." Lucy blushed, did she really? "Sometimes you even moan it."

"Thorin!" Lucy yelled embarrassedly. He just laughed at her outburst. After she calmed down she spoke again. "Anyways, I'm freezing. When will we be COMPLETELY out of the snow?"

"Two days, if we make good progress. Part of Pergrand is icy too, the snow doesn't just end at Iceburgs borders. But if you're cold, I have a solution." Lucy looked at him with curiosity. "I found a natural hot spring. Steamy and warm and it'll go straight to your bones. Plus it's kinda been a few days since we've bathed..."

"You're right, the cold has made me feel cleaner than I probably am. Grab the soap?" Thorin complied grabbing the small tea tree bar. The supplies they brought were scarce. Bread, purchased at each town they crossed. Some cured meats, like salami, that could last a while. Cheese in addition, as it could be easily preserved. They each, save Happy, only brought the cloths that they left in, grabbing a few garments for the colder climate, like jackets or thick pants. During one of the earlier days, Happy had apparently snuck back to magnolia and grabbed Lucy's red celestial silk dress that she got as a gift for her dad. It was a sweet notion. The duo finally approached the hot spring that Thorin spoke of. They navigated through a few layes of pine trees before they came to a small mountain. From a distance, it looked like the mountain had large steps, but upon closer inspection each 'step' was actually a different basin full of warm water. Lucy looked at it with wide eyes. "It's beautiful!" She exclaimed as Thorin was already peeling out of his cloths. She soon followed. 

The first time they had seen each other naked was both accidental and awkward. The second time was equally as accidental but slightly less awkward. And by the tenth time they just gave up caring, nudity now apparently being common place. Thorin jumped into the lowest level pool before she shrugged out of her thick clothing. When she too jumped in, she relished in the feeling. The warmth was almost on par with how she felt as a new 'caster' type. 

"How does it feel?" He asked her, noticing her relaxed appearance, literally sunken down to the nose.

"Pretty great." She said elevating her mouth from the water, "So what's it like? The Pergrand Kingdom?"

"Enormous... That's the first word to come to mind. It's about twice as large as the five countries we've already passed in getting this close."

"That's...impressive?" She didn't know what to say. 

"The layout is something you'll like though, at least I do. The west of the country is mostly cold and snow, the south is tropical and warm, the north is oddly hot and dry, home to a lot of volcanic activity. The east, where we are going, is a mountainous region, and the center of the country is plains. Beautiful rolling green that actually looks a lot like your Star Playground. Oh, and there's something else I think you'll like." He smiled.

"And that is?"

"There's a large amount of observatories. Huge buildings with massive telescopes that watch the stars!" He eagerly said, he was always impressed with the beauty of night.

"That's really cool! I can't wait to visit one!"

"That's not all!" Thorin continued. "Many of the cities are named after constellations and Celestial Magic is actually pretty revered there. You'll see a decent amount of Nikora there. That's a fairly common key amongst citizens."

"That's awesome! That was something I never enjoyed in Fiore, being one of three Celestial Spirit Wizards is kinda lonely. Are any strong?" She wondered.

"You're definitely the strongest.... That I know of... You may not feel it yet, but I have no doubt you're already much stronger than your friends in Fairy Tail."

"No way. They are really, really strong." She defended their strength. She wished she was on par, but there was still no way.

"Well if that's what you believe. I think differently though." He defended her strength, knowing that soon she would surpass even himself.

"So, going back to the Pergrande topic, who runs a country that big?" Fiore' government was actually a monarchy, she wondered if this place was any different.

"There are actually a few factions that hold power. There's the royal family, they've been in power forever. The king is strict and stern but ultimately believes in what's best for his people."

"That's nice." Hisui was that way when they first met, still is, but differently. Hisui was so concerned with the Eclipse Project and helping her people that she didn't even see the harm she was causing. Luckily she overcame her jaded routine and began behaving for the better.

"Then there's the the Tetraforce." His tone suddenly went dark, as if the name was a warning. "As the name suggests, it's composed of the four Mages exalted as the strongest on the Pergrand Kingdom."

"So, you four? Suberashi?" Thorin just let out a dry chuckle.

"No, just because they're praised as the strongest doesn't mean that they are." He finished laughing and caught his breath. "But their strength is nothing to be joked about."

"So who's stronger?"

"That's still in debate. We don't exactly get along well. The Tetraforce is like your Magic Council, actually. Isn't it composed of the Wizard Saints now?"

"Yes, it is. So what political power do they have?"

"They probably hold more than the Monarchy. The fact is, the king has his own resources, albeit small, while the Tetraforce has recourses up the kazoo. For example, the king has a small private military, the Tetraforce has one member whose sole purpose is heading their own militia. And it's not weak, let me tell you that. They're outfitted to be one of the strongest forces around. It's honestly hard to compare, because their subordinates vastly add to their power. If the Tetraforce wanted they could seize control of the country, easily. Luckily, that's what Suberashi is there for, to stop them if it ever reaches that point. And I have no doubt it will. Our group is secret to most, but those who know us don't really get along with us."

"We are totally the bad guys, aren't we?" 

"Haha, you could spin it that way. But we are bad in a good way. We break rules for the actual good, not too far off from Fairy Tail is it?"

"Not at all." She smiled. "Any other political group?"

"Not really. Any and all other groups stem from those two."

"Anyways, I'm not really big on politics, topic change?" She asked.

"How about we go ahead and start training with the next Zodicac." He wondered. It would be day two of their Ecliptic training. They would finish through Virgo today and complete the remaining four tomorrow.

"We can't, I totally forgot my keys at camp." Lucy replied somberly before realization dawned on her. "Oh, wait! Never mind!" She suddenly began to glow a pale yellow before the light went away. The only difference being a small marking now appearing on the center of her forehead.

"This is your gemini form? You don't look too different." 

"Nope, Gemini just gives me the tattoo on my forehead, but other than that nothing changes cosmetically."

"What about your magic power? Gemini can transform, can you?" He asked wondering about this form.

"My magic power nearly doubles and the magic I get is a lot stronger than transformation magic."

"What is it?" 

"I think it's called mimic magic. I can copy the magic ability of anyone around me, so long as my magic power is equal or greater than there's.."

"Are you kidding me?" He asked in disbelief before he suddenly sunk deep into the water. He thrashed about for a second before resurfacing. "Did you just use my magic!?" He yelled.

"Yup, you don't have a whole lot of magic, remember, just willpower, I could copy you easy." She laughed proudly. "This could come in handy."

"Very funny, well this form needs no more training, there's too many magics to cover. Can we go to the next one?"

"Ugh, do we have to?" She whined.

"It'd be beneficial, why? You don't want to?"

It's my most...odd form." She admitted.

"Well, why don't you show me?"

\----------  
Training: Cancer Form  
\----------

"Close your eyes." Lucy instructed as she slowly began to climb out of the warm bath. Just because her nakedness was something he had seen before didn't mean she wanted him to get an eyeful of boob. Luckily, the steamy water did a good job of hiding their more private areas. Thorin just held an arm over his eyes. Lucy walked out a few steps in the cold before her chest began to glow, which soon enveloped the rest of her in a magical requip. "Star Dress, Cancer!" She cried her old summoning before the light dissipated, revealing Lucy in a funky white dress shirt, tight black pants, and a very 'unique' haircut, a pair of scissors in each hand.

Thorin swam to the edge of the bath. "Well, that is interesting. What can you do?"

"My magic doesn't increase a whole lot, but I get hair magic and I know how to use these things as melee knives." She held up the scissors.

"I can teach you how to wield the knives, er, scissors, better, and as for the hair, you're on your own..." He laughed, "But we can go ahead and teach you the knives during the time skip."

"What?" Lucy asked confused.

"Oh, nothing." He caught his breath. "What your next form? Leo, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. He told me to summon him when this part of training came. It's a magic unique to him, I doubt you know too much about it." She didn't doubt Thorin's knowledge, but as Regulus was limited to one entity, she knew he didn't have an in depth understanding of it. 

Thorin nodded. "Go ahead." 

She held out her hand which began to glow gold. "Loke!" She yelled before she waived her hand to her side, the light deepening to also completely surround her. Just as the Celestial Spirit fizzled I to existence her cloths changed into a Spanish styled black dress with white lace. Her hair was pulled back in a bun at the back and the front hang loosely at the sides of her face. A red ribbon holding the bun in place, while a matching thicker cloth acted as a belt for the outfit. Overall, Lucy looked like she was attending a ball.

"Lucy." Loke greeted. "Aren't you looking as beautiful as ever." 

"Ah, Loke, aren't you acting as flirty as ever." She replied.

"So long as your heart holds a beat, you will hold mine." 

"Suave." Thorin replied sarcastically, leaning against the rim of the basin, like hell he was leaving the pool.

"Thorin."

"Loke." The two greeted each other. Before Loke turned back to Lucy.

"Well, Lucy, I don't think I've personally ever felt this powerful!" He took a deep breath, relishing what he was feeling.

"What do you mean? Have you been training?" She asked.

"Ha, no. You have!" Her once again confused look caused him to explain. "It's not widely known, but Celestial Spirits themselves hold unlimited magic power. There's just one downside, our power is directly related to our contractor's. It was designed that way so we wouldn't take up too much power from being summoned, but now that your power has increased, so has ours." He thought for a moment. "I wonder how strong Seireiō would be now?"

"I'm doing another Recompense Summoning." She put flatly.

"The emotional strain was too much?"

"Something like that, it also cost a bitch ton to fix." Now that she knew the keys could be repaired with Arc of Time magic, her only concern was the fee associated with it.

"Language, Lucy." He playfully scolded.

"I'm just out of this conversation, you two do you and I'll eavesdrop." Thorin interjected before turning around and splashing some water at a bubble.

"So can you train me in Regulus?" She asked politely as she lifted her dress slightly to traverse the snow. "You said there were a few tricks I could learn in time." 

"Yes, and you're definitely ready. First," he held up his hand, a ball of light encasing it in its signature style. "You know how to use Regulus at a basic level, now that your powers, and mine, have increased, we can take it even further." As he finished his words he swiped his hand forward, the glowing sphere flying off of his hand traveling in a straight path until it connected with a distant rock, shattering part of it.

"Whoa! We can throw it!?" She ran a few steps towards the distant rock before her heels made it a bit difficult. 

"Yup, you just have to stabilize it. Just try putting double the usual magic energy into it."

Lucy did as instructed, created a sphere, doubled its energy and threw it. It made it a few inches before it fizzled out. "Wait! What happened!?" She cried, Thorin laughed from his bath. "It's not funny!" She yelled, forming another ball in her hand and throwing it towards her laughing friend. This time, the ball made its way to the pool and violently crashed with the water, causing a wave like explosion which engulfed Thorin.

"See, you got it, second try, nothing to it!" Loke laughed.

"Just took a little motivation from my juvenile teammate." She stuck her tongue out at a now fully soaked Thorin.

"Has that ever been different?" Loke asked rhetorically.

"You mean Natsu, don't you?"

"He did always bring out the best in you."

"But made me feel the worst. Besides, Thorin is making sure that I'm my best on my own."

"Alright." He held up his hands in defense. "I surrender. I don't want to cause an argument. Can I show you the next Regulus trick?"

"Sure." She smiled, pushing away the feelings Loke's words brought about. There was a time and a place to think about or deal with Natsu. This wasn't the time. Thorin had taught her how to clear her mind in order to reach a true meditative state. The act of him knocking her out and pulling her to her Star Playground was getting annoying, so she asked to start learning how to reach it on her own. She had long accepted that she loved Natsu, but recently she finally accepted that the decision now rested in his hand. She wouldn't try to make him love her, it would have to come naturally if it came at all. 

"Okay, now watch, this takes a lot of magic. Well, for me anyways, considering you've been freely using Gottfried I'm sure this won't weigh as heavily on you."

"Just show me." She laughed at his mini speech.

"Alright! Regulus!" Loke yelled causing two glowing spheres to appear in both hands, which he continued to clap together, the orbs merging into one and the ball expanding. "Expulsion!" He yelled causing a beam from the ball to shoot forward. The beam was large, almost half the diameter of a shot fired from Jupiter, and similarly as devastating, if the countless trees it easily burst through followed by the distant explosion of light were any indicator.

"Holy...." Lucy started.

"Don't say cow!" Thorin yelled, causing her throw another orb at him.

"I'm not even in Taurus Form!" She turned back to Loke. "That was...incredible."

"Yea, but I'm almost completely drained." He admitted. "Don't try it yourself just yet, basically you just add as much magic energy to the sphere as you can. That's all there is to it."

"Alright, I'll try it later."

"But I have just enough magic left to show you this forms Trump Card." He smiled a devilish grin. "Regulus Force."

"What's that?"

A golden aura began to spread across Loke's body, which, continued to rapidly spread until it looked like he was encased in golden flames. The details and outline of his body looked like thick brush strokes, reminiscent of Chinese paintings, while the golden aura hung close to his skin. "This, is my strongest mode." He confessed, his 'painted' mouth matching his words. "In this mode you gain increased strength, speed, reflexes, and although it's a constant drain on your magic power, Regulus attacks cost much less." The mode suddenly blazed outwards and Loke fell to his knees.

"Loke!" Lucy shouted concerned.

"I'm alright, just out of magic. Haha." 

"Go back!" She yelled, her hand glowing from her magic before Loke began to fizzle out of existence.

"Activate this by embracing what you hold most dear. Combine those feelings with the magic and you can enter this mode whenever you want." He completely faded away. Who did he hold most dear? Lucy wondered.

"Well, that's enough for Leo, for today. You'll practice those tricks soon. Shall we get to our final sign for the day?"

"Yes, shall we Princess?" The familiar sweet voice asked.

"Virgo!? When did you get here?" Even with the keys implanted inside of her body, Virgo still managed to break free. It wasn't a bad thing, just awkward at certain times.

"Is Princess ready to practice our magic?" She asked ignoring Lucy's question.

"Uh, fine." She would never get a straight answer out of Virgo. Although, maybe Thorin and her could communicate easily.

\----------  
Training: Virgo Form  
\----------

Lucy began glowing and the light soon fizzled away. Lucy was now clad in a maids uniform, that was a little too short and would no doubt cause nosebleeds amongst blushing virgins. "Okay, Virgo, what do you want to teach me?"

"I want to teach Princess more advanced Earth Magic, if I may." She was always so formal.

"Absolutely!" Lucy agreed eagerly.

"May I be punished?" 

"Um, no..." After years, months to her, her masochist side still shown through. "I'm probably never going to punish you, Virgo."

"That's disappointing. Maybe if I annoy Princess I will get punished?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't think..." She couldn't finish before Virgo suddenly disappeared, most likely going back to the Celestial Spirit World. "...so... Well, great, how do I learn now?" She sighed.

"Well, Evangeline knows a great deal about other elements. I'm sure she will help you with earth in addition to water." He pitched the idea. "However, in lieu of improper training, isn't there a certain key you've yet to make a contract with?"

A sinking feeling washed over Lucy. Was she even ready to summon him, and as if Thorin had heard her thoughts he stood up, fully nude, and made his way over to his cloths. "You're ready to make a contract, it'll probably be easier than you think. But this is private so I'm leaving. Have fun." He pulled on his pants and his jacket before briskly walking back towards where Happy was most likely still sleeping.

\----------  
Training: Draco  
\----------

She released the magic energy of Virgo. She felt lighter, and colder, a lot colder. She was still naked! She forgot that instead of dressing properly, she had only Star Dressed. She quickly ran over to her cloths and speedily pulled a reverse-Gray. (Where you put cloths on faster than anyone can see.) Once she was properly dressed she held out her hand which once again began to glow. She could feel the immense amount of power at the other end of the connection. And with a deep breath, she yelled, for the first time, the words that would summon the beast. "Open! Gate of the Dragon, Draco!" 

A large magic seal appeared in front of her, glowing so brightly it made the surrounding areas look dark. The familiar sound of a ringing bell dinged somewhere in the distance and the light surged outward, reforming into a large, no, huge, no, giant, no enormous shape!!!! Lucy began to run the opposite way, surprised at the size of the spirit. But them again it was a dragon. Finally the glowing stopped, replaced by, well, a dragon. It's closed eyes suddenly opened, showing the brilliant gold that they were and with a deep, deep voice, it spoke. "Lucy Heartfilia... What do you want?"

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"I can't believe that creep didn't pay us!!" Natsu yelled as they, defeated key, slumped away from the village.

"I warned you that they had sheers." Wendy said, then shuddered at the graphic memory that followed. The poor flowers.

"It doesn't even matter!" Gray yelled. "He probably didn't even have the money."

"Gray is right, the man believed flowers to be human, I wonder what he believed was money." Erza added. 

"Still, we got nothing!" Nastu was still angry.

"Well, we got to fight." Erza suggested.

"Against kids playing a prank." He denied her response.

"We got a workout." Gray supplied.

"I didn't even break a sweat." Natsu dismissed.

"Well, we got these." Wendy said as she ran back to Erza's wagon.

"What are you talking about, Wendy?" Erza asked, worried that the smaller girl had touched her beloved possessions. Wendy simply threw off the tarp showcasing what she had received from the mission...hundreds of orchids.

"You didn't..." Gray foundry believe what he was seeing.

"Wendy, why did you steal them! That's kidnapping!" Erza yelled. 

"Good one, Wendy!" Natsu praised, eliciting judgmental looks from his two childhood friends.

"I took them so Natsu-san could decorate Lucy's house while she is away... I thought it'd be romantic."

That all 'awed.' "That's really sweet, Wendy." Erza applauded her idea. "But I doubt Natsu has any idea of what romance is."

"Seriously, flame-brain here probably thinks animalistic horny humping is romance." Gray laughed.

Natsu blushed at the idea of them together...that way... "Oh, come on. Like you should talk . Erza, your idea of romance is dancing around for years with an older guy who you only see in fights that involve Zeref." Gray laughed. "Oh, and don't you laugh, icicle. Your idea of romance is ignoring a girl to the point she ditches your ass only to then to start stalking her until you Stockholm the poor thing." Wendy laughed. "There might be hope for you Wendy."

"Natsu!" Erza defended beet red. "I, we, uh...it's complicated! And...and..we are the same age!"

"Chronologically, biologically he's 7 years older." 

"I...it's none of your business!" She finally decided.

"And Juvia did not 'ditch my ass!'" Gray yelled over Wendy's laughter.

"She did too, she gave up on you and you missed the attention..."

"It's not like that! We...we talked about emotions and stuff way back after Albareth attacked." He admitted. 

"Okay, still doesn't make you good at romance." 

"Whatever." Erza and Gray dismissed, both secretly wishing Natsu was, in fact, better than them at romance, that he could woo Lucy in a way that she deserved.

TO BE CONTINUED  
\----------

Next Chapter: The Ecliptic, Part 3

 

Bonus Chapter  
Chapter 31.5 - Sting and Rogue, Part 3

\----------  
Somewhere on the outskirts of Fiore  
\----------

"Fuck. Where the hell are you?" Rogue asked in sadness before he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnng!!!" He fell to his knees breathless. Why did he have to run away so fast? Maybe if he hadn't knocked so violently on the door? Maybe if he has burst through the door instead of searching elsewhere? No! No more 'what ifs.' The past is immutable. There is nothing he can do now except find his best friend. Although that was the problem. He couldn't find him. 

After Rogue had told Yukino that he was going after Sting, he had, embarrassingly, gone back to Sting's house and found a pair of his unwashed underwear. Needless to say, that garment was what Rogue was using to track his love interest, however, the trail just didn't stop. It was almost as if Sting had taken off and hadn't even stopped moving. And to make matters worse, his trail continued... Which would be good, if Rogue wasn't currently at the border of Fiore and Bosco. Why would Sting even go to a place like Bosco? It was dark and dangerous and riddled with criminal activity. 

Rogue couldn't go further. His heart would force him to, but his mind knew that entering Bosco by himself was suicide. If he was going to continue his search, he would have to get a team. But was he willing to continue the search? Sting definitely went out of his way to go this far. He wanted to be left alone, obviously isolation was the only option for him. If there was another alternative, Sting would have taken that instead of giving up everything he held dear. 

With a final decision and tears streaming down his pale cheeks, Rogue turned around and headed back to the guild, his guild. He couldn't pursue the other male anymore, physically, emotionally he would always be owned by Sting. With a heavy heart he set a plan for his guild. They would enter and win the Grand Magic Games and use his victory speech to publicly announce his love. Everyone would be watching, even other countries, hopefully Sting would hear the message and come home. He had to. If he didn't, that's when Rogue would follow him to the ends of the earth. 

\----------  
Carina City, Pergrande  
\----------

For Sting, there was no going back. No return imaginable unless it was the return of his dead body being delivered for burial. Sting couldn't be seen around Fiore. Too many people knew his face and would recognize him. He knew Pergrande was massive, so much so, that even if all of Fiore came over, there was less than a 1% chance of running into anyone he knew. There were stories of guilds and other foundations that he could easily blend into. It would offer him work, he would get paid and could lead a simple new life without possibility of the old surfacing. 

But his memories, his memories would never allow him happiness or the ability to move on. His love for Rogue was forged over many years. Considering minor crushes can leave you with heartache for months, this pain would afflict him for life. But memories, the pain was linked to memories. Memories, they could be eliminated. At least that's what the poster before him said.

Hello to Citizens and Visitors Alike,

Have a wish? Want it granted? You know the Tetraforce can. Come to Hercules, the capital. If we think you're special enough, we will grant it. 

Sincerely,  
General Zaeoa.

Who was General Zaeoa? Could she really grant wishes? Was it a scam? Either way, it would be worth a shot to check out. Nothing bad could come of this. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Reading! There's a point in this story I really, really, really, really, want to get to! I personally think you guys will enjoy what's coming. I hope you guys keep reading and reviewing. They both mean a lot, also, there's a decent amount of foreshadowing scattered throughout the story. Everything will come full circle, I promise. It may seem like I'm leaving a lot of holes, but they will be filled!


	32. The Ecliptic: Part 3

"Lucy Heartfilia..." The deep, draconian voice bellowed. "What do you want?"

Lucy didn't know how to respond. He obviously knew who she was, she knew who he was, there wasn't any easy introduction she could use. She doubted she could, in any way, make Draco laugh. Any normal conversation would be odd. He seemed angry, yet dismissive, she doubted he wanted to waste his time. She could get straight to the point but...

"I'm waiting!" The dragon yelled at her. The direct route! He made up her mind for her. She had to be blunt with the impatient Dragon before her.

"I want to make a contract with you!" She yelled clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes shut hoping he would comply. He only let outa a low dry, single chuckle.

"And why would I make a contract with you?" He breathed calmly.

"Because, I have proven my strength! I've unified the Zodiac, invented my own Celestail Spirit Magic, made myself a caster type! Well, I had help..." She delineated, but fiercely returned to her argument. "Now, I want to add you to my contracts! I want you to be one of my friends!"

"What a noble conviction." He sarcastically replied. "I have no need of friends."

"Well, maybe not friends." She rethought her argument. "But I would still love to have you as one of my spirits!" She shouted once again.

"Quit yelling, girl. I'm right here..." The dragon shifted and seemed to stand, before he slowly turned, his large tail swinging dangerously close to Lucy's head. 

"Wait! Where are you going!?" She called. What was with this spirit. Weren't spirits supposed to obey their summoner? She hated the word 'obey,' but right now she wished he would.

"It's been generations since someone has had the power to summon me. I'm going out." With thunderous, slow footsteps he began to walk away. 

"Oh, what do I do? What do I do?" Lucy began frantically pacing back and forth, Draco already a good distance from her.

"Allow me to help." A deep female voice said. Lucy turned to se her oldest friend.

"Aquarius!" She was surprised. "I'm glad to see you, but how can you help?"

"Just watch." A smile appeared over her lips before she I gracefully started yelling at the beast. Was this her plan? "Hey! Large ass, get back here and give this girl respect!"

Draco turned his long neck around to get a glimpse of the angry yelling woman. "Ah, The Mermaid...no." Was his answer before he once again resumed walking away.

"Come on." Aquarius instructed Lucy as they started to run after him. "Look! Lucy and I had our differences at first. She constantly annoyed me, always wanting to play or summon me at awful times. She had no grace, no class... Where was I going with this?" She wondered aloud.nlucy just gave her a sarcastic 'thanks.' "Oh! But I've come to both respect and care for her, if she wants to make a contract with you then you should be so lucky! If she has earned the respect and friendship of the zodiac as well as our king then you should give it to her too!" She yelled, Lucy was lucky to have her as a friend. After repairing her key, they had gotten along swimmingly. 

"I have unfinished business." The dragon stated. "Now leave. I'll use my own power from here on out." Lucy instantly remembered how violently his key had hummed with energy when Acnologia had suddenly appeared. Was that his unfinished business?

"Unfinished business? Do you mean Acnologia?" He instantly halted his movements.

"What do you know of the name?" He inquired without turning around.

"I know that I've faced him on 4 separate occasions." She admitted, Draco turned around to face her. "I know that he has caused me and my friends pain. I know that he is responsible for the extinction of your race. And I know that he's the reason you fled to the stars." Draco still didn't respond, only continuing yo stare at her with deep golden eyes that seemed even brighter against his black, scaly skin. "If you make a contract with me, and help me, I promise that, together, we will destroy Acnologia." Somewhere in Lucy's speech Aquarius had departed back to the Spirit World and now only Lucy stood before the behemoth.

The Dragon seemed to think for a moment before he finally spoke. "Did you know that it was one of your ancestors that gave me immortality within the stars? Your line is a long one of Celestial Spirit Mages... They unconditionally granted me the wish of surviving our extinction at the hands of The Dragon King. I suppose it's only fitting that I help you now."

"Really!?" Lucy was shocked at the sudden change of heart, and one of her ancestors was responsible for him being a constellation?.

"As long as I'm able to sink my fangs into that bastards neck, I shall help you." He agreed. "However, this doesn't make us friends, this doesn't make us anything more than spirit and summoner, no more than two entities whose goals align. Our contract is complete. Don't bother me unless it's necessary." He said before he turned a bright gold and evaporated into nothingness. Lucy had done it. She made a contract with Draco... She thought she did at least! Maybe now she could see what his Star Dress was capable of. With little effort, golden light surged outward from her chest. Lucy could immediately feel the difference in power. There were a few, namely Gemini and Aquarius, that doubled her magic power. But this, this felt like a surge of energy that stretched beyond that. How much was it? 3 times? Four? Five!? Maybe she could measure in terms of Gottfried usage. Six!? Something was seriously wrong! This was too much magic power!

Lucy let out a blood curling scream, her body still enveloped in a golden aura. She could feel her eyes take in more detail, her black pupils turning to slits, her tongue could feel the sudden lengthening of her canines. She could smell the entirety of the Forrest around her and she could hear every animal that ran away in fear at the sight of the girl before them. A burst of light and energy signaled the return of Draco.

"Fool." Was all he said.

"Help....me..." She pleaded through a painfully clenched jaw, glowing hand reaching out for help. This pain was on par with releasing her Second Origin.

"Temporarily absolve our contract." Lucy immediately complied, stopped glowing and fell to the floor, her entire body wrought with pain.

"What... What happened?" She was teetering on her level of consciousness. Seriously, that never happened when she Star Dressed.

"What happened, you ask? Your Star Dress takes part of the spirit and summons them into your body, namely their magic. Dragon Slayer Magic is different. When you summoned my power into your body you began to dragonify. As is the case with all those who wield Dragon Slayer Magic. Namely Acnologia."

"I...I have friends...who know it, they're human still." 

"Yes, and they no doubt had time to develop antibodies as well as a build up. You took on the entirety of my magic all at once, the full power of a dragon."

"All of your power? That's why it was so immense.. Sorry..."

"I hate apologies. Don't do it again until I've had enough time to develop antibodies for you."

"You'd do that for me?" She asked, knowing there had to be a condition.

"I'd rather have you borrow my power than summon me. It's less annoying." He once again fizzled gold and then exploded in a burst of light.

"Thank you...." She said, although she knew he was long gone.

\----------  
Training: Libra Form  
\----------

Lucy weakly pushed her throbbing body from the ground. She hadn't anticipated that level of power entering her system. She quickly looked to her left when she heard the crunch of snow and the tussle of some leaves.

"Wow, Lucy. You look like shit." Thorin stated bluntly.

"Aye!" Happy, who was on his shoulder agreed.

"Thanks..." She replied sarcastically. "That's what every girl wants to hear."

"So, how'd the contract go?"

Lucy could give him all the details, but they honestly weren't worth it. And the way she felt, hints of pain still spa aiming through her, she wanted to use as little words as possible. "Fine, we have a contract."

"Oh, well that's good."

"Where'd he go? I wanted to see another dragon!" Happy yelled.

"Sorry, Happy. He's back in the Celestial Spirit World." She falsely apologized.

"Aw darn.... I wanted to see another dragon."

"Yes, you've said that." Thorin replied. "How about you settle for another Celestial Spirit? Lucy, are you up to finishing the training with the Zodiac."

"I guess so." She said immediately turning a shade of gold before the light faded. Lucy was dressed similarly to Libra except with a blue color scheme. Her hair was also pulled up in a similar fashion and there was a blue and gold piece of fabric that guarded her face. Her decorative 'bra' matched the gold and blue scheme, her stomach was bare and below that she wore a knee length matching dress. "Wow, I feel better. Having good magic in me sure is refreshing." She admitted smiling through the veil. 

"So Gravity Change?"

"Yup!" She beamed. "Not too different than your magic, come to think."

"Not entirely." He responded. "Gravity determines weight, you can change gravity, thus affecting weight. I can change it, but only in respect to gravity. Essentially, you could make gravity 0 and my power would then be useless."

"Oh, well, now I have a way to beat you if you ever go rogue." She laughed. "Any advice for this form?"

"Well I guess I could teach you a few things from Weight Change, maybe you could mimic them?" He said as he turned to Happy. "Any chance we can practice on you?"

"What!? No!" The cat worriedly replied.

"We won't hurt you. I promise." Thorin replied.

"Still a no!" 

"I'll catch you a fish." Lucy added.

"...fine." 

"Awesome. Okay, first thing is first. You have more range with Gravity Change than I do with Weight Change."

"How so?"

"Well, my first thought, you can change the direction of gravity on a target. You can make them go in any direction you want, almost like telekinesis. In fact, with enough practice, it will definitely be a form of it."

"That would be useful!"

"Keep in mind that it can only be used on physical things, not energy. Just a precaution." 

"Got it!" 

"Okay, well aside from that I guess I can just show you one of my favorite spells." Thorin pushed his hand forward sending out a thin wall of energy, five feet across. The wave traveled towards happy at an alarming speed who turned around and tried to run. But as the wave hit the exceed, just as it did with any loose objects along its path, Happy was hoisted into the air, unable to move.

"Guys?! This is weird!" He yelled as he floated, turning upside down, one of the weightless clumps of snow hitting him in the face.

"Whoa! What did you do?" She asked. 

"I sent out a wave of energy, that, as it passed, made the weight of objects 0." He smirked. "Happy currently weighs less than air."

"That's so cool!!" Lucy yelled.

"No it's not!" Happy defended, suddenly weight returned and every floating object crashed back dow. "Thank you."

"You think I can do that?"

"It's easy, just keep practicing, and eventually send out a wave that reduces Gravity."

"Alright, I'll practice that on my own time." She reflected over everything she had learned, and how much she actually had to practice. "Next form?" 

"Absolutely."

\----------  
Training: Scorpio Form  
\----------

Lucy resumed her normal glow, which shone for a brilliant moment before fading away. This time, she was dressed in a light brown trench coat that went down mid thigh. The rest of her legs were covered in white, plated armor that matched Scorpio's sand buster, while her forearms were equipped with similar styled gauntlets, equipped with a sleek gun barrel at the end. No donut these were used for firing sand. Her hands were clad in black, leather gloves while, below her leg armor, were matching boots. "Here's Scorpio Form."

"So sand magic?" 

"Yup." She held out one arm and shot a burst of sand forward with immediately broke through the trunk of a tree. "It can do more." She moved her hand and the sand rose, following the movement. "I learned this trick fighting Azeel of the Spriggan 12. He had powerful sand magic, and well, I guess I later copied him with this."

"To develop a technique other than Sand Buster is an accomplishment."

"Yea. Originally I could only shoot out sand. Now I can control it in large quantities. Not as powerful as Azeel, but still..."

"Still you're on your way. After just two more months I have no doubts you'll view the Spriggan 12 as nothing more than a C-Level threat."

"You guys are really that powerful? I mean, I saw two of you keep Acnologia at bay... But it's still impressive."

"And there's a high chance we aren't the strongest. There is always someone out there who is more powerful than you. That's how it works, I'm afraid." He sighed. "How about we move to your next one. There's only two left."

"Oh! Yes! This one is my favorite. Sorry, but I don't need training in this one."

\----------  
Training: Sagittarius Form  
\----------

Lucy blew for a second before emerging in jockey attire. A green split tailed jacked, tight white pants, knee high black boots, and leather gloves that had free fingertips. Her hair was pulled back in a long ponytail and Sagittarius' arrow symbol appeared over her right shoulder. "This form gives me a roughly 50% magic boost! but it's my favorite to use!"

"Why is that?"

"Don't know. Guess I've just always loved archery. Here watch this!" A intricate star designed bow suddenly appeared in her left hand. She drew an invisible arrow, which quickly manifested in the form of solid energy. She drew the magical energy as far back as she could, the mark on her shoulder glowing a violent green before she turned towards Thorin. "There, through that clearing. Fine me 50 targets."

"50?" He questioned.

"Yes, now do that weight change and make 50 targets float." He looked towards the distance and snapped his fingers, multiple small rocks rising. "There you go, they're even spaced out. Good luck." He honestly didn't expect her to his the targets, and with one arrow? Yea right. The actions that followed shut him up.

Lucy just released the arrow, which immediately split into 50. Each arrow magically revealed towards the far off and small targets, every single one striking them with pinpoint accuracy. And as if that wasn't enough, each arrow instantly detonated with the power of a miniature nuclear blasts, 50 circular explosions destroying a massive part of the terrain. Thorin was stunned.

"That's called Star Shot. 50 arrows seems to be the max I can do at once, and the explosions are as strong as I can get them."

"50 missiles that home in on their target and explode. That's bullshit." Thorin was still stunned at the one attack. "There has to be a drawback to that attack."

"Not really, there's just a brief period of time I have to wait before I can use that one again." Thorin noticed the emblem on her shoulder was still glowing green, fading slowly. When it stopped glowing she could use the attack again. No doubt. 

"Is that the only attack you have?"

"No." She drew the bow again, another arrow materializing. She fired the singular arrow which imbedded itself into a rock quite a distance away. 

"That's it? Normal arrows."

"As you would do in a time like this..." She lifted her fingers and snapped. The explosion that came from the arrow that followed had enough force to knock down Happy and Thorin. Lucy braved for the shock wave, but was still surprised at the difference in power Supernova Shot had now than when she fought Pulse. But, it wasn't called Supernova Shot for nothing. 

"Crap... Thorin stood up. That explosion... It was almost as devastating as Urano Metria. How'd you get so strong in this form?"

"Lots of practice." She responded, a coy smile appeared across her lips. 

"Okay, you don't need any help here. Your first attack could instantly subdue 50 enemies, of near any calibre... You're...good." 

\----------  
Training: Capricorn Form  
\----------

Once again, Lucy began to glow, the light fading to reveal Lucy now dressed in a black woman's business suit. Her hair pulled back into a neat working bun. She looked professional. 

"What can this form do?"

"Honestly... Capricorn may be a helpful spirit, but this form..."

"Not so good?"

"I get no magic increase, I just get expert knowledge on hand to hand combat."

"Oh. Do you need help in this form?"

"No... Honestly, he knows a lot. This will just be something I practice on my spare time."

"Sound good." He smiled. "You know what this means right?"

"The Zodiac is completed!" She beamed.

"Yup, just keep practicing until we reach our base and you'll be ace." He instructed. "Really quick, you mind telling me what happens when you Star Dress your silver keys?"

"Um, Horologium gives me super armor. Crux gives me an immense amount of knowledge. Lyra gives me musical knowledge. Basically I just get skills, with Horologium being the requip type..."

"Well I'm Happy for you, Lucy!" Happy beamed.

"Thanks Happy!"

Thorin turned around and began heading back to their camp sight. 'Hm, I have no doubt you're going surpass me... I really made the right choice with you. Thank you.' 

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Hello Children." Makarov greeted, perched on the counter and previously chatting with Mira, who waived to the group. "How'd the mission go?"

"We failed it... But I don't think the guy had the money anyway." Natsu said dismissively.

"That's not the Fairy Tail way, if they need us we finish jobs regardless of pay."

"Natsu left out the part where the man was insane and pinned us against children." Wendy added.

"And besides, his so called 'children' were actually flowers. Orchids to be precise." Erza supplied.

"Where's Juvia?" Gray asked, only for him to disappear and look for his girlfriend.

"Ah, now I see, well no sense in dealing with a madman." Makarov supported them, having dealt with his fair number of crazies. "How's your training coming along?"

"Very good actually. I believe we are a shoo-in for the Grand Magic Games this year."

"Yes, I've also just heard that Sabertooth also plans to enter."

"Eh, those chumps just wanna show us up. Figures Sting would enter his guild the same year we do." Natsu brushed off the competition.

"Actually, Sting is no longer their Guild Master." Makarov delivered the news, causing a shocked look to appear across the listening g faces. "I'm sorry to tell you this way, but Sting is missing. Or rather ran away for unspecified reasons. Rogue is the standing Master. Warren is actually with them now attempting to lock on to Sting's brainwaves. They've boosted his power to a global level, but so far there's nothing. We fear the worst..." Their faces twisted in sadness and confusion.

"Sting is...gone..." Wendy said more than asked. Makarov nodded to confirm.

"I can't believe that." Erza stated. "First Lucy, now Sting. Who else is next?"

"Well at least we kinda know where Lucy is..." Mira said before she realized she had said too much. She slapped her hand over her mouth. "I mean, we kinda know who she is with..." Her false correction went in vain as Erza lunged across the counter and grabbed the white haired woman by her shirt, harshly pulling her forward.

"Mira! If you know where Lucy is, you better tell us now!"

"Yea!" Natsu shoved Erza aside and grabbed the smaller girls shoulders. "You said you had that weird dream! Has more of it come back!?" The whole guild could hear him yelling at this point. 

"Back off." A thunder wave struck Natsu as the overprotective Laxus walked forward. Like hell he was going to let anyone treat Mira that way. "If Mira does know and hasn't told us, then there's a good reason."

"And what might that reason be?" Makarov asked her, far harsher than he should have.

Mira took a deep breath. "Because I promised her I wouldn't!" She yelled. Natsu looked like he was once again on the verge of tears. He couldn't keep taking this constant heartbreak, he had to find Lucy, he needed to. And now he's hearing that she didn't want anyone to know where she was. He thought that the man they fought was just lying when he indirectly stated that Happy and Lucy wanted to be there. They had no choice but to trust him, but still...

"Mira..." Natsu said softer and with more emotion in his voice than anyone had ever heard him speak. "Please... Please just tell me where she is, just so I know..." Mira looked at the emotional boy before her. She knew how Lucy felt about him, maybe she wouldn't mind if Natsu knew...

"She's... She's with that man we encountered. Just like he said."

"But there's more to it. Why is she with him?" Natsu was begging, pleading for any bit of information.

"She's... She's with him because he's training her..." She admitted with a sigh.

"Yes, we know that. But why!?" He was getting slightly agitated.

"Because she feels inferior when she's around us!" Mira yelled. "She doesn't feel like she's valued, and honestly, I can see why she feels that way."

Did Lucy really feel that way? They valued her, why would she feel that they didn't. "No way! That's not true!" Natsu defended.

"I overheard you calling her magic 'support' when you two accepted that job at Crocus. I've overheard other people demean Celestial Spirit Magic. She might not show it, but those comments hurt her, it's the only link she has with her mother and you call it 'support.'" She said gently.

"Did...did I really?"

"I've heard you say silly things to her as well." Makarov answered.

"Honestly, though, Master. You aren't that much better." He looked at her confused.

"Nonsense, I placed her on the Allied Forced against the Oracion Seis, and I even had no hesitation on placing her as a representative for our guild at the Grand Magic Games." He put matter of factly.

"And what about the S-Class trails?" Mira questioned. "For the past three years you've only selected the same group. And I'm sorry, but it must be difficult to train and train and train, like I've seen her done, only to hear your friends names get announced for the trials. That can't feel too good. Let's remember that she defeated Bicklow even when she was new, she's far, far stronger now. And besides, and sorry Cana, but having her on your team is what made you win last year." Cana looked down, knowing that was true, Lucy took on the blunt of the work, yet Cana received the title.

"You're right... I had no good reason for not selecting her... She's as good a candidate as any. Better than some."

"And now she's off, training with someone who easily wiped the floor with us." Erza crossed her arms at the embarrassing memory. However, that fight was not without its benefits. She had observed his magic, and the next time they clashed, defeating her wouldn't be so easy. She had a plan.

"Erza, you do similar." Mira looked sadly, now realizing just how much her friends overlooked Lucy. "Just recently, before Natsu and Lucy left for their mission. You went over to the wall, found an S class mission. Then, you went over to where Lucy and Gray were eating lunch, together, and invited Gray and not her, you even said 'Gray, how would you like to accompany me, I could use some skill.'" Mira finished. 

Erza looked down, sadness in her eyes. She remembered those words clearly. She hadn't meant any harm by them, but apparently, that's what she caused. 

"What about me?" Gray asked, worried that he had also hurt her somewhere along the lines.

"Actually, I have to say, you've been the most respectful of her powers. I've seen you ask for her help even if Natsu or Erza is also right next to you. I don't think you really hurt her." Gray sighed in relief.

"What about Juvia?" Said girl asked.

"No. I'm not telling who did what anymore. You all get the point, and that's why she's gone."

"Well, crap." Natsu sighed. "When we get her back, we have to let her know how important she is to all of us. Alright guys!" The Guild cheered at his words.

TO BE CONTINUED  
\----------

Next Chapter: Two Months Later

 

Bonus Chapter  
Chapter 32.5 - Sting and Rogue, Part 4

\----------  
Hercules: Capitol of Pergrande  
\----------

Sting looked down at the flier, them up at the massive building before him. This was definitely the place. He just hoped they could actually grant him his wish. All he wanted to do was forget, just erase the past 15 years of his life, leaving only the memories of his foster father and bits and pieces of Lector. Originally he had wanted to keep parts of Sabertooth, but those memories pained him too. He had come to love his guild, but now he wanted not her more than to never set foot in it again. With a deep breath he pushed the large doors open.

The foyer was empty, a stretched long room, almost entirely lifeless, cold cement, the only detail was a red ornate rug that led to the end of the room where a large throne sat. Seated in it was a woman who was in a apathetic position. Her head resting on her hand whose elbow rested on the arm rest. Her legs were crossed and she let out a loud yaw as she dismissed yet another person's request. Sting walked past the man who was now being escorted out by guards. He was pleading for her to rethink granting his wish. She didn't care. Maybe this was the wrong place to be.

"Ah, and what do we have here?" She sat up, clearly enamored at Sting's presence. She was young, maybe 30 at the most. She had shoulder length black hair and creamy skin. She was dressed like the captain of a ship, detailed skin-tight cloths with a large trench coat over it. It was an odd look, but she was someone with power, she could do whatever she wanted, and she knew it.

"Hello, my name is Sting... Sting Eucliffe. Are you General Zaeoa?" He tried to sense her magic power, there wasn't a lot , he could tell she only knew one type of magic. Maybe she dismissed the man before him because she was unable to grant the wish?

"Yes I am. And what does a handsome man like yourself, Sting Eucliffe, want from me?" She smiled as she sat forward, her I different nature shifting to one of curiosity.

"I...I want to forget...something...someone." Her face lit up, and she reclined in understanding.

"Ah, a broken heart..." She sighed and smiled, obviously liking what she was thinking about.

"Yea..." He admitted. "The poster said you could grant wishes. That's mine... But you said I had to be interesting and have a good story... If I had either of those things maybe they wouldn't have rejected me..."

"You said 'they' rather than a pronoun like he or she, which leads me to believe it is the former." She guessed.

"You're observant..." Sting had to admit that she had keen intellect.

"Well, I'll tell you what." She stood up and walked over towards sting.

"M'Lady!" A guard objected, afraid for her well being.

"Calm down, he's powerful, but not a threat." She ran a finger along the bare skin of Sting's collarbone before popping a button loose in order to get a better look at his chest. "I can make you forget."

"Really?" He shuddered at the cold hand caressing him. She was way too friendly, didn't she know he was gay?

"Yes, I just ask one thing..." She circled the younger male, taking in visually as much as she could.

"And that is..."

"I want you... Sting. I want you power, your body, all of you. I want you to be my subordinate." Could Sting do that? Could this be the life he could lead. "Agree to be in my inner circle, and I'll make all the pain go away." She said soothingly.

Sting thought for a moment, this is what he came here for after all. And there were worse things than a relatively pretty girl on a position of power hitting on you. "Alright."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"So we have a deal? You will become mine?"

"Yes." He answered once again.

"Well then, there's only one thing left to do." She extended her arm in a handshake.

"That's..it?" She nodded.

"Take my hand, and I promise that you not hurt any more." He reached forward and grabbed her hand. They shook.

Something felt off. Was this her magic? He definitely felt the pain lessening, the image of Sabertooth slowly slipping his mind. Yukino. Minerva. Rufus. Orga. Rogue... Rogue's face lingered the longest before he too felt it disappear... But it didn't end there.

"What's going on?!" He asked panicked. He could feel something was wrong. She just ignored him and held onto his hand. He could feel everything draining from him. His memories. His will... Sting's eyes closed for a second as Zaeoa completed the spell. She released her grip.

"There we go. Sting?" She questioned prompting the male to open his yes, pupils glazed over and blank, devoid of any life, any soul. 

"What are you going to do with this one, M'lady?" The same guard asked.

"Ah, well, for starters, I'm taking him up to my room."

"A good choice."

"I definitely think so." She smiled at the boy who stared blankly past her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Sorry for the sloppy writing, I just wanted to get through this part as fast as possible. Things start getting good from here on out!


	33. Two Months Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, it's mostly an intermission... Enjoy!

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"Ah, and there's our new member!" Orenda beamed as Lucy and Happy walked into the small base of operations. Upon arriving at the Headquarters for Suberashi, Lucy was surprised to see that it was nothing more than a modern house on a bluff near the ocean. It was beautiful, but for a guild of their power, she expected it to be massive. Her favorite part of the house, was the circular dome at the center of part of the roof. It was able to be opened up, which could then be used for a miniature observatory. Stargazing was something she now did every night.

"How was your first solo mission?!" Evangeline asked as she stood and approached Lucy. She was just as described. A sweetheart. She genuinely cared about the well being of others, well, most others, and she was more than accepting of Lucy. She was in her late 20's, early 30's maybe. She seemed to act as the mother of the group. She cooked most meals, even though Orenda could snap anything she wanted into existence. She cleaned the house, although no one forced her. And she had a general awesome vibe about her. 

"Well, it wasn't really 'solo.' Happy went with me!" She corrected. The look of derision she received told her she was still expected to get an answer. "But it went well, the threat was dealt with."

"Yea!" Happy yelled. They were sent, as their first mission alone, to intercept a fleet of 25 pirate ships. The pirates had recently began invading shallow waters, capturing boats, stealing goods, burning small villages, and many more atrocities. The boats housed powerful Mages, but with her Suberashi training, it was over and done with quickly. "It was amazing! Lucy saw the boats and summoned Libra and Aquarius and had them do a unison raid. Libra made the water weigh less and the Aquarius took out all the ships with a tsunami! It was great. A few mages came after us but then Lucy equipped Capricorn and boom! Pow! Bang! They didn't know what hit them!" Happy was still seriously in awe of how strong Lucy had gotten.

"Impressive!" Evangeline declared before noticing a cut on Lucy's cheek, it would heal, but no doubt scar her beautiful face. "Aw, dear, you have a cut. Here let me." She held out her hand, the cut glowed a deep shade of red before it immediately repaired itself.

"That's such a useful power." Lucy replied at the tingle on her cheek. "Thank you."

"Do you have any injuries, Happy?" She asked, concerned. 

"No! I'm fine, thank you!" He replied.

"Hey look everyone! It's Blondie and Blue!" Es playfully teased as he clomped into the room the others were in.

"Cant you pick up your feet when you walk?" Evangeline asked. "Seriously, a little grace would go a long way." She smiled.

"You try wearing this armor day in and day out." He replied.

"Can't you just use Thorin to decrease the weight? It'd make you more efficient." Orenda asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I've told you, if the armor looses weight then it's harder for me to stand my ground. I'll just be tossed around, Happy-style."

"Hey!" The exceed yelled in objection.

"Besides," he turned to Lucy. "Toting this around gives me some damn good muscles, if I do say so myself." He winked at her, she blushed. She couldn't deny her attraction to him. Es had tanned skin that was usually clad in copious amounts of plated armor. He had a metallic and leathery scent to him, much like Erza. He was about 25, stood around Thorin's height, and that quip about his muscles wasn't a joke. He was lean, less bulky than Laxus, but still ripped. She knew this because, the few times he want wearing armor, he was naked, and didn't care who saw. He had short black hair, a chiseled face and a playful smile. Honestly, it wasn't his appearance that attracted her to him. She met countless good looking guys. Natsu, Gray, Laxus, Sting, the boys from Blue Pegasus, Thorin, now Es. Seeing handsome guys and their muscles, well Thorin wasn't ripped, just average, had become common place to her. What made her like Es, was exactly what Thorin had said. He reminder her so much of Natsu, in terms of personality. In fact, he so closely resembled Natsu is his beliefs and attitude that she had accidently called him the wrong name a few times. She knew that was the only reason she liked him, in a very small somewhat non-platonic way. That and considering he smelled like Erza, was an exhibitionist like Gray, and gave her the same nickname Laxus and Gajeel gave her, made her feel like she wasn't so far from home. But even then, she knew that it was Natsu who held her heart, this guy who acted like him and occasionally flirted with her was just a friend... Who she had accidentally kissed once or twice. She had needs after all... "So, how'd it go, Blondie? The mission?" He smiled that Natsu smile.

"It went really well, actually. My training is paying off!" She admitted proudly.

"I'll say!" Orenda included herself. "I'd say you've even risen to rank 4."

"And that means I'm in fifth place again." Thorin said dismissively as he entered the room. 

"Thorin!" Es greeted, "You're looking fat." 

"What!? Am I really?" He turned his body towards the tall mirror in the room, inspecting himself for puffage.

"He's just messing with you." Evangeline calmed him down. "Did you do it?"

"Do what?" Lucy asked, not knowing where Thorin actually was.

"Yup I did! Last minute too, we have to be there tomorrow morning. You'd better teleport us." He instructed, turning towards Orenda.

"Did what!?" Lucy was growing impatient.

"Why, Lucy." Orenda stood up and slowly walked over. "He registered us for the Grand Magic Games." 

"Oh, they have one here?" She asked not fully understanding.

"No, but they have one in Fiore." Thorin answered.

"What!? Why?!" She really had no reason for not wanting to go other than the fact she didn't want to see Natsu just yet. Three months wasn't that long, he might still be deciding.

"Well because." Thorin started. "The fact is..."

"Thorin." Es interrupted scoldingly.

"I don't see why I can't tell her, she's a member after all. And you know how I feel about secrets." He spat the last part, knowing they were hiding something about his forgotten memories.

"Fine. Go ahead." Es responded. Thorin looked at Lucy.

"We are ready to go public. We are ready to reveal ourselves and help the world."

"Why don't you just go public then?" Lucy asked. "Why do you have to participate in the games?"

"Because the response of an average person would be laughter. They'd assume we just copied the name from a child's legend." Orenda began.

"They wouldn't think we were actually part of that legend." Evangeline added.

"But, if we participate in the games and show what we are capable of, no one will question it." Es finished.

"Oh, I get it. Fairy Tail was kind of a joke up until we won the games. I can relate." She understood their reasoning.

"That's not all, I'm afraid." Thorin added. "Fairy Tail is one of the guilds set to compete."

"What?!" Lucy almost choked. "They haven't entered for three years! Why now?" She sighed in frustration. She had no doubt Natsu would be on the front lines for their team. Would she be able to face him? Was she even as strong as her friends? All her training had definitely improved her skill, but her friends were naturally gifted. What if all her training had been for nothing? These questions now plagued her mind.

"Stop." Orenda instructed. "I know what you're thinking. You're strong Lucy. You're Suberashi. Don't doubt yourself." Lucy looked at her Fairy Tail mark which rested over her right hand, and then glances at the Suberashi symbol which she had wanted placed on her left. Orenda was right, this training hadn't been for nothing! She had to not doubt herself.

"Not just Fairy Tail, though, there are close to 500 guilds that have entered this year."

"It won't be that many, they eliminate more than 99% of those teams on round one." Lucy remembered that annoying maze and how only 8 teams actually went through.

"Well, like I said, we need to be there tomorrow morning." Thorin turned to walk away. "Everyone should get some sleep. Night."

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Ay! Listen up, brats!" Makarov bellowed, standing on the counter Mira often took care of. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards their Master. "Tonight we all head out for Crocus."

Everyone cheered. They were all exceptionally pumped at this years Grand Magic Games. Their driving purpose was doing their absolute best so they could call out to Lucy. Everyone was motivated, and Makarov elected that he wouldn't reveal the teams until just before they left. Everyone had an equal chance of participating, but mist already knew who the likely candidates were. But that didn't stop the lesser members from training their asses off in order to get some screen time.

"What about the teams, Gramps!?" Natsu eagerly yelled, hoping he would be leading the excursion.

"Yes, I was getting to that." He shook his head at Natsu's impulsiveness. "As with the last time we participated, I've read through this years guidebook, and I've found a few things. For instance, Erza, who was previously ineligible to compete due to her former status as Guild Master, is now actually allowed. Only current Guild Masters are not allowed to compete, with former Guild Masters being able to enter, so long as we provide proper documentation to show they didn't just drop their status in order to help their team."

"That makes sense." Gray said, mostly to Levy, who was standing by him, he knew she had also read the book. 

"The rule of two still stands. We are allowed to enter two teams, each consisting of five main contenders and one backup, for a grand total of twelve people." 

"Master, we are all in suspense, please tell us the teams." Mira practically begged, she wanted to know as much as anyone else.

"Alright, as for team one, you could all probably expect the ones I've chosen. Team one will consist of..."

"Natsu." Natsu jumped in the air and fist pumped out of pure joy. As this was an overall mission to reach out to Lucy there was no doubt that he would be left out.

"Gray." The ice make wizard just smiled and nodded, keeping his cool composure.

"Erza." She gave a speech about how she wouldn't let her comrades down.

"Wendy." She ran up and hugged Makarov, thanking him for choosing her. She was 18 but shill as sweet as the 14 year version of herself.

"Juvia." She squealed and jumped into her boyfriends arms, hugging him happy to be on his team.

"And as for the backup member, I've chosen Pulse." Said male could feel the awkward and nervous stares he was receiving, but it was Natsu who playfully punched his arm and congratulated him on being nominated.

"There, now you have Team A. Onto team B. This team will consist of..."

"Mirajane." She thanked him and politely went back to listening to the list.

"Gajeel." He just smirked as if it was the most obvious choice ever.

"Laxus." He nodded in understanding. This team was going to consist of the heavy hitters that weren't as acknowledged as Team Natsu.

"Cana." She just took another sip of her drink.

"Levy." She gave a shout of surprise, shocked she was actually nominated, and delighted that she would be on a team with her boyfriend.

"And our backup for Team B is Mest." He just promised to do him proud.

"Well, there's out teams. If there's any dispute, please, keep it to yourself." He dismissed. "Mest, would you do the honor of transporting everyone to Crocus?" 

"You're lucky it's close." He replied. Thankfully he could recharge his magic before tomorrow.

\----------  
Sabertooth  
\----------

"I'm sorry I've been neglecting everyone." Rogue apologized as he entered the main room, gaining the concerned attention of every member. "But starting now, I need to be strong and be the master this Guild needs me to be." He apologized. "I know the Grand Magic Games are tomorrow and I have a choice for our team, if you don't already have one planned."

"No, we were waiting for you." Yukino admitted. She was sad Rogue still held so much negative feelings after Sting's disappearance. It had been two months and was still worse for wear.

"Obviously I'm going with the team we had before..."

"Minerva..." She smiled, knowing she would try her hardest to secure their victory.

"Orga." He was already to fight, this announcement only made him happier.

"Rufus." The man gave a tilt of his hat in understanding.

"Yukino." He said her name with a former affection that had her smile.

"Dobengal." The ninja didn't even flinch at his name being called.

"And as for backup... Well, I'm giving that position to Sting, hopefully he will come back to me...I mean us!" He speedily corrected. "You are all invited to join us at the games, but you shouldn't feel compelled to do so. Thank you all for still being here."

"Rogue, when are we leaving?" Minerva asked.

"Now." He replied.

TO BE CONTINUED

\----------

Next Chapter: Grand Magic Games: Day 1, opening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! There you have it, the Grand Magic Games are starting. If anyone has any suggestions for events LET ME KNOW. Seriously, I've only thought of a few and would greatly appreciate it. Leave a review! Thanks!


	34. Grand Magic Games: Opening

Chapter 34 ODAG

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"And it's Opening Day here in Crocus for the Grand Magic Games X794!!" The pumpkin announcer boomed over the intercom that was broadcast throughout the city. His person was physically situated at the center of Domus Flau with the stands already full. 

"There are currently 492 Teams in competition, and as you all know, only 8 will make it through toe the next round!" Mato's voice continued to resound the the lacrima PA system.

"I wonder who's gonna make it this year." Gray wondered aloud.

"Each year it's different, there's a very realistic chance we won't make it through." Ezra added.

"Yea, and even back then, we barely made it the first time!" Natsu yelled in response. Their ego's had been high and they believed that they had finished first, only to discover they were, in fact, last.

"Juvia made it through first." The watery girl added. 

"That's right, your team did plow through it. Let's hope Team B stands strong this year too." Gray hugged Juvia from the side. Pulse noticed this.

"I wasn't here, so I have no idea what you're talking about. And that affection between you two will only complicate things in the games." He quipped, Natsu responded.

"How could you say that to them!?" He questioned angrily. Seriously, what was pulse saying, the only reason Natsu was here was so he could find Lucy, so he could find his love.

"Natsu is right, love is the whole reason we are here. For the love of Natsu and Lucy!" Ezra chanted.

"You'd better apologize, bastard." Gray got on his case too.

"Guys, calm down. I'm sure he only meant that emotions can cloud judgement." Wendy defended him. "Besides, we shouldn't be fighting, it's been literally a minute.... Since we've arrived."

"She's right..." Ezra sighed.

"I apologize." Pulse spoke up again. "I'm still trying to understand human affairs.."

"You'll get there evemtually." Wendy comforted him.

"Well pal, you might not be human, but dragons are pretty awesome. Trust me!" Natsu jammed a thumb to his chest and smiled, all previous anger gone. Pulse mimicked the action.

"Juvia wonders what the first event is going to be..." She said aloud, they all did.

\----------  
Sunerashi  
\----------

"With the 492 teams in place, we will now begin elimination! So please, head to your selected rooms." The announcer boomed over the intercoms. The members of Suberashi looked up at the Lacrima in their room.

"Well, it's starting." Evangeline stated the obvious. "Here you go, everyone." She handed out black garments for her teammates.

"What are these?" Lucy asked inspecting her gift. After unfolding it, she realized it was a long black cloak. The outside seemed to be made of thicker, durable sleek black fabric, almost like ballistic nylon. The interior was laminated with red silk.

"Why, they're cloaks." She stated. "I figured you wouldn't want your friends seeing you before you want them to, and I wanted us all to match!" She beamed.

"Well, thank you. It's beautiful." She shrugged it on. The cloak ended mid shin, the sleeved ended just after the length of her arm, and it was crowned with a hood that contained a small concealing lacrima that added shadows to obscure the users face. "But wait, won't they announce my name for the events?" She thought of another problem.

"As far as they're concerned, your name is 5." Thorin stated. "I enrolled us by our numbers, so our names would remain hidden."

"Well, all the bases are covered then, I guess." Lucy replied.

"Then maybe we can finally get past first." Es playfully responded.

"Let's just listen to the announcement..." Lucy brushed him off. "It should be broadcasted soon."

They all waited for the reveal of the first half event, which the pumpkin was stringing along.

\----------  
Event Announcement  
\----------

"It's time to officially announce the opening event! Anyone not currently in your rooms is disqualified..." He started. "Which looks like...23 teams already eliminated! Everyone remaining, please head out to your balcony." Those who were left complied and instantly saw what they were looking for. In the center of the sky stood a floating island. It was massive and no doubt the first event would be held there.

"The opening event is called Forager! And this time, it's a scavenger hunt, folks!" 

"Auxiliary position number 6 is also allowed to compete in this event."

"There are eight objects that you must find on 'isle ciel.'"

"A team needs only find one of the eight in order to move onto the next round. So time is of the essence."

"Eight riddles will be announced, and the answer to each will be the object you are meant to find."

"Each riddle will only be said once, and not repeated."

"Teams may also freely use magic to sabotage other teams."

"After the item in question is found, if it is an item, you must bring it back to the center of the island for completion."

"During this time, other teams are allowed to steal the item you hold."

"Now, you may all start rushing towards the island, but pay attention for the riddles."

Paths suddenly formed connecting everyone's balconies to the island. The game was meant to weed out fast. The riddles would eliminate those without much intellect, and the lack of repeating the riddles would get rid of teams that chose to focus on just one riddle. If another team was after the same item, and they found it first, everyone else after it would be out of luck, unless they remembered another riddle. Then there was getting there. Every teams paths seemed to wind and twist, making it almost like a race. After that, there was the actual island, which was beyond large. No doubt actually finding the item would take a while. And finally, there would be the teams who just elected to start combat with others, either right of the bat or those who waited to steal. That would no doubt eliminate a large amount of the weaker teams. This was definitely set up so that only the fastest, strongest, or smartest would prevail.

"If by means to constrict in a certain spot,  
And by means I allow entry not,  
Then by consuming you become but a thought."

"Alone I am the starter of few,  
with a friend I am double.  
Add another and I become unclean."

"My first; A happy greeting at the front of a house.  
My second; The answer to life, too, and how I see it.  
My third is something most want yet few have.  
My whole is one of the united states."

"Under pressure is the only way I work,  
and by myself is the only way I'm hurt."

He continued the remaining four riddles, although many teams chose to focus on the first four, and the remaining fell on deaf ears.

\----------  
Team Suberashi  
\----------

"Well, darn." Lucy thought for a second. The riddles were far more difficult than she thought they would have been. "Also, shouldn't we start running? All the other teams are half way there!" She pointed out noticing everyone scrambling like ants to get to the top.

"Orenda will just transport is once we figure out a riddle." Es calmed her down.

"Oh, I already know all the answers." Orenda spoke up, her personality seemingly scattered again.

"And how do you know them?" Lucy asked.

"There are an infinite amount of here's that are not here where there was and there wasn't a slip up on the announcers part."

"So there's a reality where the announcer let the answer slip?" Lucy asked, Orenda just nodded. "Okay, well, what are they?" 

"That would be cheating!" Evangeline interrupted. "We should solve one ourselves." She decided. Thorin moved to speak.

"Under pressure is the only way I work, By myself is how I'm hurt." He spoke. "The answer is a diamond."

"How'd you get that?" Es asked. 

"Diamonds can only be scratched by another diamond, and by applying copious amounts of pressure to coal you can synthetically forge the stone. Plus, I'm the god of pressure. It was easy."

"Alright, so now we just have to find a diamond on the island." Lucy replied.

"Not even." Thorin argued. "An island of that size no doubt has a cave with coal somewhere in it. We just have to find that and then I can make the diamond."

"Do you think they intended it that way?" Evangeline asked.

"What way?" 

"So even if we solve the riddle, it's still a separate task figuring out how to get the object?" 

"Probably." Lucy answered. "But we better go, Orenda, just get us on the island. Virgo can search out the coal for us." With her magic and the sound of a creaking door, they all disappeared from their hotel room.

\----------  
Team Sabertooth  
\----------

"Did you get them all, Rufus?" Minerva asked over the roar of the ind that graced the island. She didn't waste any time in warping her team there, determined for them to make the top 8.

"I've committed them all to memory." He replied smugly.

"Do you have any answers?" Yukino asked sweetly.

"...not yet. I'll keep thinking." 

"What was that one about starting few things?" Yukino questioned.

""Alone I am the starter of few,  
with a friend I am double.  
Add another and I become unclean." He repeated.

"Okay, so the first line. It's starts few things. What are the things? Any ideas?" Yukino questioned, planning a brainstorm.

Orga began rambling. "Fires, books, spells,...."

"Wait, books... Sentences... Words..." Minerva exclaimed. 

"You think it could be a letter?" Yukino questioned.

"I'm not sure, we are looking for an object, and last I checked, letters aren't tangible." Rufus responded.

"Well, if the answer is a letter, maybe it'll represent something." Orga replied.

"X" Minerva interrupted, her team mates all looked at her. "X is the answer. Few words start with that letter, X is 10, XX is 20 or double. And XXX is used for, well, smut, which is unclean." 

"Okay, so X might work for the descriptions but there has to be more to it." Yukino suggested.

"X marks the spot." Donengal finally spoke up. "Treasure marker."

"There are beaches on this island, you think there's actually an 'X' that shows the location of treasure?" Yukino once again questioned.

"There's a chance, the treasure could very well be the item we need to enter the final 8." Orga spitballed.

"But the island is massive, and I'm sure other teams are also figuring out the riddle by now. Where should we start?" 

"Well, while other teams are searching the island, we will scour the only area that actually matters." Minerva replied, causing her teammates to look at her in question. "The island is a circle, the answer is X. So, assuming north is 12, we will search '10 o'clock.'" They all smiled at her logic.

\----------  
Fairy Tail: Team B  
\----------

After having gotten the instructions to star running towards the island, Team B immediately complied. Due to the fact that they had no quick way of reaching the island, they were left to run, which resulted in them being one of the last teams to arrive. This put them at a disadvantage, but at least they had a secret weapon. Levy. And Freed. Yes, Freed. After Mest had teleported such a large number of people to Crocus, he was left practically immobile. The back up to the back up was announced as Freed, and he happily agreed to be on the team. 

"Well, everyone else is here." Mira sighed and panted as she looked around at the numerous teams currently on the floating oasis. If i.e. Wasn't for the couple thousand people, the yelling, and the fighting, the island would be beautiful. 

"Yes, they are." Laxus had no further words.

"May I suggest that due to the numerous people here, it is in our best interest to search for the most difficult riddle. No doubt that will have the least pursuers." Freed proposed. If they isolated the hardest riddle, that would be the one that had the fewest amount of teams on it, as it would have the lowest answer rate.

"Yes, but what is the most difficult?" Levy asked.

"Well,one was X, one was a Diamond, one was..." 

"I gotta say, that first one made 0 sense to me." Gajeel cut off Freed from his show off of answers. Freed just smirked and looked down.

"You're correct, that was the only one I couldn't procure somewhat of an answer for." He admitted.

"Well, luckily we have both you and Levy." Mira beamed sweetly. "It shouldn't take too long."

"No it shouldn't." Levy smiled. "Part one stated: If by means to constrict in a certain spot. What are some words that fit the definition?"

"Confine, captivate, enclose, imprison, hem, restrict." Freed replied.

"Okay, then the next part says: And by means I allow entry not. What denies entry?" She says bought for a second before answering her own question. "A lock!"

"Okay, but what does that mean?" Freed questioned.

"From the first list of words, you said hem, now this part is lock. Hem-lock, hemlock! That's the answer."

"Genius. It even answered the third part. By consuming you become but a thought. A thought or memory, because you'd no doubt perish after ingesting it!" Freed exclaimed. Everyone else was watching the 'nerds' do their thing.

"Guys, where are we gonna find a poison on an island?" Gajeel broke their eagerness.

"Actually, when I trained a little with Porlyusica, I learned that a synonym for Hemlock is Tsuga, it's a type of tree that is no doubt on this island." Mira added.

"You think the tree is the answer?" Freed questioned.

"It's worth a shot."

\----------  
Fairy Tail: Team A  
\----------

"And that makes 6 teams, folks!" The King announced over a booming lacrima.

"Shit!" Natsu yelled. "At this rate we are going to be last if we make it at all!"

At first, the group was in a good place, having arrived on Isle Ciel rather quickly, and actually managing to obtain one of the items rather quickly. However, it wasn't much longer when a team consisting of mysterious mages appeared and forcibly taken their relic... If the word forcibly could be applied. One cast a spell, and a weird wave of energy later, they had swapped locations, and the riddle answer, a comb, was in their hands. Then they disappeared.

"There's only two spots left, damn." Gray added, also slightly annoyed.

"You guys!!" A voice cut through the air, catching their attention. They weren't expecting anyone to acknowledge them.

"Mira." Ezra greeted as the white haired woman ran up before bending over and panting heavily in order to catch her breath. It was clear she had been searching for a while. "What are you doing here?"

"There's... There's..." She continued panting before finally taking a deep breath and recollecting herself. "My team has one of the answers, a pine needle from a Tsuga tree. The others are bringing it to the exit point as we speak, which means I don't have much time."

"Time for what?" Wendy asked.

"Well, Mato doesn't reveal which answers have already been completed, but Levy created an algorithm that has predicted the most likely remaining answers."

"I assume one of the answers is the one with your team?" Ezra questioned.

"Yes, actually. The Tsuga pine has a 26% chance of being accepted... It's still the second highest though."

"And the odds are that low?" Natsu questioned. "Why didn't you go for the higher odds?"

"We wanted to give that to you. This is your show, after all. We are just here to help." She beamed. "Anyway, the riddle that has a 43% chance of being unused is: My first; A happy greeting at the front of a house. My second; The answer to life, too, and how I see it. My third is something most want yet few have. My whole is one of the united states."

"Do you know the answer, by chance." Gray questioned.

"Yup and I think it's one you'll like, Gray." She winked before she began to glow, then inspected herself, alarm spread across her face. "It looks like they accepted our answer. Matrimony. That's the answer to your riddle." She was now slowly fading away like one of Lucy's spirits, and Natsu wondered if he was the only one reminded by the light illuminating off of his friend.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked, "In what way?" She questioned before Mira gave a small 'I'm sorry' and fully disappeared.

"And that makes 7 teams already in the finals, ladies and gentleman!" The disguised king's voice broadcasted once again. "Whoever answers the last riddle is anyone's guess. Good luck to everyone!"

"How is the answer matrimony?" Juvia asked. 

"I have no idea. But we are just going to have to trust her." Natsu spoke, a slight sadness in his voice.

"When did you get so mature?" Gray said mockingly, which angered Natsu.

"When did I get so mature, asshole?" He grabbed Gray by his collar. His teammates could see the anger, Natsu didn't usually call Gray names unless they had a slightly playful undertone. "I think I maybe got mature about the time I realized I might never see the person I love again! Or maybe the time I realized that we might not actually enter the final 8, and the only plan I have to reach out to her is falling to shit. Or how about the fact that every day I wonder whether or not she's actually still okay, or even still alive! How about that, huh?!" He finished. The team had grown used to his sudden outburst whenever someone hit a trigger inside him about Lucy.

Gray was speechless, he knew that he had upset Natsu, obviously, and he didn't know how to fix things. All he could hope for was that this blew over, and hopefully soon enough for them to actually solve the riddle.

"Natsu, let him go." Erza instructed. He begrudgingly complied. "A matrimony, I doubt a ring is anywhere on the island, that would be a symbol for it anyway."

"Maybe someone needs to propose." Pulse added, everyone looked at him. "What, I have brushed on my cultural knowledge."

Erza smiled. "That's actually a good idea." She turned towards Gray. "Go on then." She instructed.

"What...are you talking about?" He replied timidly.

"Propose to Juvia." She clarified. The blue haired girl almost fainted at the words.

"I..." Gray tried to find words... But none came to him. He loved Juvia, and had consider this...many, many times. In fact he was even prepared. He just wasn't expecting it to be like this. He simply got down on one knee, and reached into his pocket. When his hand came out, he held out a beautiful ring.

"Ah, so that's why Gray hasn't been loosing his cloths recently." Erza whispered to a seemingly preoccupied Wendy.

Juvia knew that this must have been something he was actually planning if he already had the ring, and to her it was beautiful. Tears of pure joy formed in her eyes. Even Pulse felt a little touched at the display.

"Juvia Lockser, and hopefully soon, Fullbuster, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" Then the unexpected happened. While everyone expected to be enveloped by light, like Mira, and enter the final 8, instead, Juvia just fainted. "Juvia!" Gray exclaimed as he and the others rushed forward to her unconscious body. He cradled her in his arms, her upper torso placed over his lap. "Juvia." Gray shook her gently, bringing her back to consciousness.

"G..gray... Juvia just had the best dream." She said softly. 

"It wasn't a dream." He said before he leaned down and kissed her. She reached up and ran one of her hands through his hair. "But, you still owe me an answer." He pulled away after a brief and touching moment.

"Yes." She leaned forward while simultaneously pulling down on his head, connecting their lips once more.

"I hate to break this up..." Wendy interrupted. "But I solved the riddle, and found a slight...situation."

"Situation?" Erza questioned.

"Well,let me clarify. My first; A happy greeting at the front of a house. It's a Matt. As in a door matt. The second line is: My second; The answer to life, too, and how I see it. The joke is that the answer to life is 42, and here the word 'too' is actually used as 'two.' The number. 42 and 2 is 44, which is on the periodic table as Ru, or formerly as just R. How I see things is with my 'eye.' So now we have Matt R Eye. And as for what everyone wants yet few have is money. Matt R Eye Money. Or Matrimony." She finished dissecting the riddle.

"So what's the issue?" Natsu asked. 

"Well, there's another word. A word that may not be the best team builder..."

"Just say it, Wendy." Gray edged her on.

"A 'happy' greeting." She said. "Happy has a synonym..."

"Oh my god." Erza just blushed, she could feel a slight nosebleed coming on.

"Yea, the answer isn't just matrimony, it's a gay matrimony." Wendy clarified.

"You've got to be kidding me." Gray sighed before he sat Juvia up and walked over to Natsu before kneeling once again. "Ugh, Natsu, will you marry me?"

\----------  
Unknown Location  
\----------

"What are you doing?" The dark haired man asked as he approached the knight before him. The knight was preoccupied, looking at a massive open field, construction rampant in every inch.

"Ah, Ankhseram. How are you today?" Rune asked calmly.

"I'd be better if my subordinate did what I asked." He responded curtly.

"Couple of things, my dear old friend. I am NOT your subordinate. You know as well as I that we are equals." He turned towards Ankhseram, darkness now lining his features. "Keep up your attitude like that, though, by all means. You know it empowers me. Then we will finally settle which one of us is stronger."

"Hn." He tsked, and brushed off the threat.

"And secondly, if your referring to exterminating Suberashi, well, there are complications." He looked back out the window at the large pillars being constructed.

"Do tell."

"Well, firstly, I have no idea where they are. And unless they make a public appearance, I doubt we will ever gather a specific location. Second, how do you exactly plan on me taking them down? They have a god on their side. Oh, and that brings us to the third point. Thorin."

"Suberashi is currently at the Grand Magic Games. If you did any research, you'd know that they did, in fact, make a public appearance. And as for how you can take them down. Your backed by your team, aren't you? Tetraforce? There's a reason they're revered and feared across the country. Use them."

"Well, I may be able to convince them. But still, what about Thorin?"

"What about that traitor?" He gestured out towards the contruction. "He's the reason all of that is even necessary."

"I know, but he had his mind wiped, he doesn't know any different. But his current alignment will make defeating them difficult."

"You're a god too, need I remind you. Even though you don't carry yourself as such." Ankhseram scolded.

"Yes, you let me know that constantly." Rune replied snarkly. "I suppose I'll head to the Capitol now then."

Ankhseram turned heel and began to leave. "Just do it." Rune only smiled.

\----------  
Next Chapter: Grand Magic Games, Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm seriously going to need help planning out all the events for the five days of the games. Please leave suggestions, and if you want to help plan all the points and pairings, leave a comment and I'll give you my email so we can spittball. If you help that way, I'd be more than happy to tell you where the story is heading. Thanks for everything!


	35. The Finalists

"And that completes the Island Forager Event, everyone!" Mato yelled over the intercom. "The Eight teams have been decided, and will be announced shortly. Please gather you things and head to Domus Flau."

"You heard the mascot, folks." Chapati Lola, the main announcer and spectator for the games began. "You guess is as good as ours as to who will be in the top 8. With all the teams that entered, who do you think will be at the top, Yajima?"

"Well it's hard to say. There are a lot of fresh new faces this year, and a lot of veterans. Will spunk and youth prevail? Or will it come down to experience and familiarity?"

"Probably the second." Chapati responded. "That being said, we have two fan favorites that have returned this year. Both Fairy Tail and Sabertooth have entered, however there is always the chance we won't get to see them in the main events."

"Oh, don't be such a downer." Jason, the third announcer interrupted. "I'm sure Fairy Tail is a shoe in, however I'm partially biased. As Lucy Heartfilia is a close friend."

"Actually," Chapati looked at the papers in front of him. "It looks as if she's not on either Fairy Tail teams A nor B."

"That's interesting, considering she was one of the faces for their teams last time." Yajima responded.

"Well, perhaps due to the growing strength of other teams, they elected to go a...stronger route." Chapati simply put, not understanding the situation.

"Don't knock Celestial Spirit Magic." Yajima defended. "Three years ago. I have no doubt she would have swept the floor with her opponent if not for outside interference."

"That was never proven, Yajima." Chapati argued.

"Nevertheless, for that much power to suddenly disappear is unlikely." He stopped the argument, Yajima personally didn't enjoy when people belittled anyone else's skills. His own Flattening Magic was noting remarkable, but he still wouldn't trade it for any other. 

"Well, it looks like Mato is going to start announcing the teams, let's listen." Jason butted in again.

The Pumpkin moved to the center of the large arena, a slight hop in his step. He knew all eyes were upon him, and that the teams were ready to make their entrances. "Alrighty then everyone! It's the time you've all been waiting for. It's time to introduce the teams that will paint the posters for x794. One of these 8 teams will go down as marking their guild as the strongest. Quite an honor." He allocated. "And now, without further ado, presenting the leading teams."

"Team number 8! A returning team, they struggled at fist in the opening event. They started off strong, but their item was stolen from them. Oh no! However, they pulled together and finished strong, barely making it. Also introducing the Games' newest couple... Teehee... Fairy Tail Team A!!!!!" He yelled and gestured to one of the entrances to the colosseum where the announced team made their way out to the open circle. Erza and Wendy were smiling and waving while Natsu and Gray had awkward scowls on their red and embarrassed faces. Juvia was similarly upset, and Pulse didn't really care.

"Ah, they don't seem like the happiest bunch..." Jason observed. 

"Well, as the highlight reel will show, they had an...awkward experience." Yajima responded.

"Yes, to everyone who wasn't tuned in, Ice Make Wizard Gray Fullbuster and Fire Mage Natsu Dragneel, two well known mages, were married last round in order to complete their riddle."

"Being forced to marry your lifelong rival can be a bit awkward." Jason supplied. "And are either of them even gay?" 

"No, actually." Chapati answered. "Which no doubt is the reason for their scornful faces."

"However, their suffering is my gain." Jason laughed. "Their kiss is going to be on the cover of Sorc Weekly, I promise you that!" 

\----------  
Highlight Reel: Fairy Tail, Team A  
\----------

"What the hell are you doing?" Natsu yelled with an emotion that was combine shock and embarrassment. He desperately looked to his observing friends for an answer.

"I'm proposing to you, flame brain." He blushed and looked away. 

"Yea...but...but...." He stammered.

"Do you want to be in this event or not?" He shoved the ring forward, slamming it into Natsu's chest. "If you do, just fucking say yes." Now Gray was getting ticked. They were all there cause of Natsu, and now he was being difficult and not saying the one word that would enter them into the final eight. 

Wendy, Erza, and Pulse closely watched as Juvia now involved herself. "Juvia knew he was another love rival!"

"What are you talking about now?" Gray looked at her. "I proposed to you a second ago! I don't have feelings for Natsu, we just need to win this event!" He became angry at her anger, and after his words Juvia began to cry.

"This is why Gray-sama suggested that foursome with Lucy and Natsu." She bawled, Gray turned crimson at her confession...on live Lacrima Vision

"Juvia!" He yelled, completely embarrassed. Gray liked to ship other people, and if said couple just happened to join them in bed, he wouldn't mind. Everyone had their kinks. 

"Juvia needs time alone!" She yelled before she quickly ran off, not looking where she was going due to the watery tears in her eyes.

"See, I told you love would interfere..." Pulse said before Erza hit his shoulder, silencing him.

Natsu looked back towards Gray, who was now standing. "Fuck it, fine. But we are calling this whole thing off as soon as possible." Natsu crossed his arms, genuinely pissed.

"Actually, no can do!" Mato suddenly walked forward. "You can't call this off, or you don't go though." He told them, his hands reached up to his cheeks as he let out a small laugh.

"What do you mean, tomato?" Pulse couldn't care less who he was regarding.

"I mean, all the other teams have been put on hold. Natsu and Gray must now get married, and only then will they move onto the top 8." He smiled under his mask. "So no calling it off, but you can divorce later..."

"That's sick." Gray stated. "Forcing two people, two platonic friends, to marry each other." 

"Ah, well, all for publicity." Mato stated, they couldn't blame him, this action would reach an entirely new fan base. "Let's just skip to the end shall we?" He asked, taking position in between Natsu and Gray.

"Are you okay with this?" Gray asked Natsu, who still seemed on edge.

"No!" He snapped beach before softening. "You?" 

"There are worse options, I guess." He gave a soft smile. "I just have to make sure Juvia understands."

"Um..." Natsu rubbed the back of his head in timidness. "So me and Lucy?" He questioned, remembering Julia's outburst.

"Forget it, we will talk about that later..." He turned towards Erza. "Would you mind going after Juvia?"

Erza suddenly looked offended. "And miss this? I don't think so!" She snapped.

"Wendy?" He pleaded. 

"I'm on board with Erza!" She beamed.

"Well, I'm offended you didn't ask me first." Pulse said sarcastically before following the trail of water the sad Mage had left.

"That was a lot of talking!" Mato put bluntly. "Natsu Dragpeel...."

"Dragneel..." He growled at the shorter man.

"Dragneel, right... Do you take this man, Gray Phillabuster..."

"Fullbuster!" Gray now yelled

"Er...Fullbuster...to be your lawfully wedded husband?" 

"Oh god..." Natsu sighed. "I do." Natsu cringed, this riddle was a freaking joke.

"And do you, Gray...."

"I do." He interrupted and put bluntly.

"Then, without further a do, I now pronounce you husband and...and er...well, husband!" His voice said happily. "You may now kiss the Groom."

"No thanks." Gray said.

"When hell freezes over!" Natsu yelled.

Mato just laughed. "Oh, silly me, let me rephrase that. Kiss, or I'll move onto the next team." 

"Fuck it." Gray leaned forward, and moulded their mouths together.

\----------

"Uh...isn't that the guy you like?" Thorin turned towards Lucy.

"I....um...yea..." She responded weakly.

"Well, I will leave you to your nosebleed." 

\----------

"Alright, everybody. Time for team number 7! This team was a guarantee for the top 8. This is a team that you get when you mix raw power with pure intellect. We are glad to have them! Now presenting, Fairy Tail, Team B!!!"

The team walked outside, Mira leading the way with a large smile and waving to the crowd. Laxus followed, keeping a calm demeanor, but even he could keep a small smile from gracing his lips. Gajeel hung close to Levy, who mimicked Mira's motions, and in the back was Cana, who was whistling and cheering louder than anyone. She was a little tipsy.

"Ah, yes." Chapati spoke starting his commentary. "This team cut it close. But then again, they did target the two riddles that were hardest to solve."

"That's true. I even heard that Team Member Levy Mcgarden calculated the two most challenging riddles, and even ended up helping out the other team from their guild." Jason said.

"Yes," Yajima agreed, "and that's, sadly, the only time they are guaranteed to help each other. From here on out, they are opponents..."

"Is anyone else sensing chemistry between Gajeel Redfox and Levy Mcgarden, down there?" Jason randomly questioned. "Or even model Mira Strauss and contender for title of Wizard Saint Laxus Dreyar?" 

"Hm, I can ship those." Chapati retorted.

"Same here." Yajima spoke loudly into the lacrima.

\----------

"Team number 6 is a fan favorite for ladies everywhere. They stole the stolen item that Fairy Tail had acquired first. Showing that looks can kill and that anyone who thinks females are weak, are idiots. Introducing!! Mermaid Heel!!!!!!!" 

The all-female team walked out onto the arena, Kagura leading the group with her head humbly bowed while all the rest cheered voraciously.

"And there's Kagura, looking menacing as ever." Chapati started the dialogue.

"I hear that she's only gotten stronger since we've seen her last." Yajima boasted. "Her training has been relentless, and while last time she had minimal control over her sword, Archenemy, she now has full mastery."

"Archenemy, folks, in the right hands it's a cataclysmic weapon. Even without control of it, she managed to demolish a large portion of Crocus three years ago... Accidentally of course..." Chapati clarified.

"Her team is looking strong as well. She might be the powerhouse S-class member, but she is backed by a solid team."

\----------

"Team number 5 is without a doubt the team that's easiest on the eyes. Introducing the guild renown for its beauty, Team Blue Pegasus!!!!!"

Ichiya hopped out of the stadium with his signature bounce, fingers pointing in every direction he could find. Jenny Realight blew kisses in a similar fashion to Mira, but she also took the extra mile and did poses for the male fans of the audience. The boys of Blue Pegasus quietly stalked behind, keeping their ever cool attitude at their entrance.

"Wonderful!" Chapati exclaimed. "It looks as if we are having similar teams to that of x791!"

"Yes, and with everyone having grown and matured, it will be a game of epic proportions!"

"Although, I wouldn't mind seeing a few new faces in the mix. New abilities are always exciting!" Jason yelled in eagerness.

"Well, lucky for you, the list is only half over. You may get your wish yet." Yajima comforted.

\----------

"Team number 4 is a team outfitted with all kinds of diverse and elemental magic. Their leading member strikes fear into anyone who dare face him. Introducing Team Lamia Scale!!!!!"

Jura led his team out into the open. He smiled to the audience, hands tucked in opposite sleeves, prayer style, while the members behind him waved and responded to the cheers. 

"Jura Neekis." Chapati put bluntly.

"Yes, a Wizard Saint and extremely powerful opponent. And let's not forget, Lyon Vastia was also considered a candidate not too long ago." Yajima updated the listeners.

"Yes, however, Lyon has never beaten Jura the was Laxus has!" Jason beamed.

"Uh-huh. But Jura has taken that loss to heart and trained relentlessly." Chapati defended.

"You say that as if the others haven't." Yajeel responded. "All we know for sure is any fight with him in it will be an exciting one."

\----------

"Team number 3 is a new team, and technically, they're not even a Legal Guild! Heck, technically, they don't even know magic!! But, they did help save the eastern part of our world, and they helped fend off the dragons attacking our city three years ago!! So damn if this doesn't make for good ratings. Coming from the distant Continent of Luka, introducing, Team Rave!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Haru Glory walked out onto the dirt field, leading Musica, Let, Julia, Ruby, and Belnika. Haru, Ruby, and Balnika were eagerly waving, while Elie and the remaining members cheered from the stands. Let, Julia, and Musica kept their serious demeanor, but each was secretly happy on the inside.

"Is that even legal?" Jason asked.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. But Mato would have kicked them out if it was." Yajima answered. "He said they didn't have magic?"

"Well, the chart here says that members Belnika and Ruby have magic, while Haru has a magic weapon. The other three have abilities that could be seen as magic." Chapati answered. 

"Hm, I guess Mato is trying to get Luka involved in this, by allowing them to enter. He is right, the ratings will skyrocket!" Jason added. "I knew he wanted to make this a 'world event' but I didn't think it was literal..."

"Yes, indeed, and as Luka is a continent with few practicing mages, the games will be awe inspiring to them."

"For those of you that don't know Luka all too well, it is a Continent on the other side of Earthland, just like us and the western continent of Alikitasia. There, however, just as magic developed here, it developed there as rare items known as Rave and Darkbring. Isn't our world interesting, everyone?" Chapati questioned his fans.

\-----------

"Team number 2!! They were once exalted as Fiore's strongest guild! Now they are back to show us all what they're made of! Under a new Guild Master, introducing, Team Sabertooth!!!!!"

Minerva and her team forced smiles on their faces, even though the reason for their presence was a solemn one. They all knew they had to try their best and that failure was not an option. Last time, failure was inexcusable because it meant you were weak. Now failure was deplorable because winning meant a chance at bringing a dear friend home. They were all proud at their shift in viewpoints.

"Ah, yes. We were expecting them, weren't we?" Chapati rhetorically said to his two fellow commentators. 

"Absolutely." Jason said. "But I hear that they entered the games in order to publicly announce that Sting Eucliffe, their former Master, is missing."

"I've heard that too. And luckily, this year the Games are being broadcasted across the globe, which is, again, why so many teams competed."

"Well, we wish them luck, and Sting, if you're out there, they want you home." Chapati said caringly.

\----------

"And finally, the Team you've all been waiting to hear about. Team number one." Mato spoke softly into the microphone lacrima, the crowd grew deadly silent. "They're isn't much to say about them. They're are just as mysterious as they are frightening... To me at least. Introducing Team Number 1.... Suberashi."

The five cloaked figures walked onto the field. No one cheered, and no one did anything except look at the dark figures who ranked number 1. Suddenly, everyone burst out in laughter.

"What, why are they laughing?" Lucy turned towards her teammates.

"I don't know... I thought getting first would make them take us seriously..." Evangeline responded.

"You heard him, folks!" Chapati said in between laughs. "Suberashi."

"Isn't that the name of a children's book?" Yajima asked, not fully understanding the laughter of the audience.

"Yes!" Jason said, also laughing. "That's why it's funny, they copied their name and even dressed in a way to make them seem like badasses!" He continued laughing, as did the audience.

"I hate to break it to you, but they did place first." Was all Yajima supplied before he dismissed the laughter.

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Them..." Erza looked towards Suberashi. She saw one of the members slightly turn their bodies to look at her, but then immediately turn back, probably when the person saw Erza looking at her.

"I know..." Natsu responded, looking at them so intensely that they could feel hotter.

"You mean...." Gray questioned.

"Yes." Erza said. "His presence. It's the same man we fought before."

"Thorin." Natsu seethed.

"But if one of them is him...shouldn't Lucy be here?" Wendy hopefully questioned.

"I don't sense her presence at all." Gray said, sadly. "Their power, though...it's astronomical..."

"And none really smell like her..." Natsu replied to her question, disappointed. 

"Still, the moment one uses Keys and summons a familiar spirit, we will know for sure if it's her." Erza comforted him. "It's not like her magic isn't recognizable."

"Well, I hope you're right. I need to find her. I can't take another second without her! And if one of them really is Thorin, I'm gonna beat his ass till I know where she is!"

"Shouldn't you do that to your husband first?" Pulse joked.

"Fuck off..." 

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"I have a feeling that they know it's me!" Lucy started to panic. 

"Yes, and let's just go ahead and YELL that so they can hear you with their dragon hearing." Thorin responded. "Don't worry, you don't even have to summon spirits anymore, that's the main way they'd recognize you, after all. They're more likely to recognize me than you. Be more worried about that."

"I just want to start the freaking tournament so those bastards in the stands quit laughing at us!" Es yelled. "It's humiliating!!" He cried.

"Those Rave guys, I think I know them...." Lucy randomly added. 

"Alright..." Thorin added. "Good to know."

\----------  
Pergrande Kingdom, Hercules  
\----------

"Ah, Rune, how nice to see you." Zaeoa said happily as she stroked the blonde hair of her newest 'pet.' 

"Zaeoa, I need you to prepare your team and ready the Starlight Phoenix." He instructed.

"One, I don't take orders from you." She snapped and tugged slightly harder on the hair she was caressing. "And two, what could possibly require my team and ship?"

"Suberashi." Her face grew from irritated to serious.

"You know where they are?" She questioned as she stood up leaving an almost naked Sting in a zombified, kneeling position.

"Yes. They are..." He looked towards Sting. "Can you put some cloths on your toy?"

"I prefer him this way." Rune just shook his head.

"They are in Crocus, at the Grand Magic Games. How long will it take you to prepare?"

"If all goes uninterrupted. Five days." She replied. Rune nodded. "So this is really it? The final battle between us and them?"

"Yes, and once it's over, the fate of Pergrande will finally be determined." 

"Good. Has he been notified?" She asked ambiguously.

"Yes. And he is getting ready as we speak." Rune smiled. "He and his groups will head out in two days. Their journey should make it so that you arrive at the same time."

"Good. And what about her?"

"Well, you know she won't agree with this. She won't help us, but I doubt she will make a move against us."

"That's too bad." Zaeoa sighed. "She could end this with a pinky."

"I know. But she most likely won't."

"Well, more like 1000 pinkies." She joked at her magic.

"Oh, haha!" Rune laughed, "Oh, you, that was a good one." 

"Ah, inside jokes, I'll go begin preparations. It'll take every effort to beat them." She pulled on a leash that was wrapped around her puppets neck. "Come, Sting. We have word to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while, chapters will be coming faster form now on. Thanks!


	36. Day 1: Event

Chapter 36 ODAG

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

After the introductory events, all the teams had went off in their own directions. Every one elected to get back to their suites and get some rest for the upcoming trials. If the opening start was any indicator, then this year would be rigorous. Especially with the unfamiliarity of Rave and Suberashi. The other 6 had no idea what to expect. Fairy Tail was no different, and they had retired to their room, and each fallen asleep extremely fast. They were tired, both emotionally and physically, and they only woke up 2 hours before the actual games started. Team A headed to the bar that the rest of their Guild was occupying.

"Ah, there you all are." Makarov smiled to the team as they walked through the door. He scanned everyone and noticed a key member was missing. "Where's Juvia?"

Gray looked up from his feet, eyes still red from waking up. "Ah, she didn't want to sleep in the same room as Natsu and I. She will be here soon."

"She easily reverted to her old tendencies, hasn't she?" The elder questioned.

"Ya, I mean, up until that point she hasn't been jealous at anything. I hope she comes around soon." Gray looked back down to his feet, he was one of the ones that has quickly fallen asleep from emotional exhaustion rather than physical.

"Gramps!" Natsu interjected, deciding his love life was more important. "Did you see that team who placed first? Suberashi?" He wanted to know if Makarov felt the same familiar energy that they all had.

"Yes. I'm surprised people laughed. They seemed powerful." He admitted. "But nothing we can't handle, I'm sure." He smiled to Natsu.

"But did you sense anything...familiar about them?" Natsu pressed for an answer.

"Hm." Makarov thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it... One of their magical signatures seemed familiar."

"Just one?" Natsu asked sadly, he was hoping Makarov could pinpoint if Lucy was actually with them. He was a Wizard Saint after all, recognizing magic and sensing it was easy for him. 

"Yes. One of them." Makarov closed his eyes in memory and nodded once. "It's hard to explain. Such little magical power, yet somehow there's also such an overwhelming force about him. It feels like that man we fought three months ago while on the trail for Lucy." 

"The one that soloed our entire guild?" Laxus butted in, then so did Mira who was sitting next to him.

"Oh, you mean Thorin!" She said happily.

"Will you quit being so nice when you talk about him!?" Natsu yelled at her, Laxus growled at the threat. "Seriously, he stole Lucy and you act like you're all chummy-chummy!!" 

"Don't you dare raise your voice at her!" Laxus slammed his hands on the table as he roared, face red from rage.

Erza just walked over before grabbing his wrist and slamming his head forward onto the table. "Everyone stop yelling!" She hypocritically voiced. "And as for you, mister." She turned to Laxus, who was rubbing his head from the sudden blunt force. "Quit being a baby and just ask her out already."

"I...I...I...uh...what!?" He yelled at her before he found her hand slapping itself across his face.

"I said stop yelling!" She roared again. "And it's clear you two like each other, just start dating already."

"Erza!" Mira yelled, her face red.

"How many tangents do we go on?" Natsu butted back in. "Lucy, we were talking about Lucy!" 

"Oh right, I totally forgot." Erza bowed her head in sorrow. "I will remain focused from here on out!" She promised.

"Okay, so we know one of them might be Thorin. Did anyone here sense Lucy at all?" Makarov questioned of his children.

"Um..." Carla softly started, "If I may. I'm not sure I felt Lucy...but there was a brief moment where I could have sworn that I felt Happy."

"Do you not normally feel happy, Carla?" Natsu said suddenly concerned his cat friend might be depressed.

"No! You fool! I meant Happy, the exceed, your friend!" She snapped. "Ringing any bells?"

Natsu's face lit up. "Really!? Where!? When!?"

"I'm not sure... It was while I was in the stands with Lily. And it was only for a second..." She admitted. "I'm sorry, I don't have anything further."

"Don't apologize, Carla!" Wendy hugged her friend.

"Yea, any little detail helps." Natsu supplied.

"Whoa!" A new voice entered the conversation, "Why is it so serious in here?" The rest of the guild turned to the entrance of the bar. And they couldn't believe the sight before them. "I'm so glad I found you all, I've been looking for you!" She said once more before Natsu shoved a few members aside and ran to the girl who was gently swaying on her toes and smiling.

"Lucy!" He yelled. The emotions running though him were rampant, and as he closed the distance between them he roughly grabbed her and forced his lips down on hers. But there was a problem. A couple, actually. She wasn't kissing back. Maybe she had moved on? But then there was the fact she tasted like chocolate. Lucy tasted like raspberries... And then there was the also the fact that a fist was now colliding with his face, knocking him off 'Lucy.'

"What the hell do you think you're doing, perv!" A new male voice yelled at him. Natsu rubbed his eyes and looked up where a male around his age with silver hair was looking down at him, slightly ticked. 

"Haru!" Natsu stood up and looked from him to 'Lucy.' Wait no... That wasn't Lucy...

The girl, formerly thought of as Lucy, stood next to Haru and dusted off the hat she was wearing. Her brown hair falling free. "Haru, stop. He thought I was Lucy... I guess that's the last time I wear a hat." She said sweetly.

"Oh...wow, you two really do look alike!" Natsu got right up in her face. "You know... Aside from the different colored hair...and eyes.."

"Ah, whatever. It's nice to see you again, Natsu!" Haru changed back to his happy demeanor and extended his arm for Natsu to take.

"It's great to see you too!"

"Ah, yes, you will have to excuse him. Lucy has been missing, and seeing Elie must have made him visualize Lucy." Erza approached the newcomers. "They do greatly resemble one another... Anyways, it's nice to see you all. We haven't crossed paths since that whole casino ordeal."

"Ah, no more apologies, it's fine!" Elie said. "I just wasn't expecting it, is all." 

"Yea, no worries." Haru waved his arm in dismissiveness. "And yea, we heard about this tournament and decided to enter! We had no idea you'd all be here." He said.

"And we had no idea that your group was responsible for saving all of Luka!" Gray walked forward. "Nice to see you Musica!" He gave a small wave. The male who had been up until this point mimicked the action.

"Yea, it's nice to see you too man!" He walked forward and pulled Gray into a hug. "And at least you have pants on, this time." They both laughed, the first time they met, Gray was entirely naked, now he was only missing a shirt.

Just as the two hugged, Juvia had decided to walk into the bar, and she was greeted by the sight of her shirtless 'boyfriend' hugging another guy. However, from the angle she was at, it looked like they were kissing. Gray noticed the sudden presence and looked past Musica. "Juvia!" But it was already too late, she had fresh tears in her face.

"So this is why you rejected Juvia for so long!!!" She cried. "I should have known Gray-sama was gay!" She turned around and stormed out of the bar. 

"Ah crap!" Gray sighed. "It was nice to see you all, but I got to run!" He trailed after her.

"Julia, Let!" Wendy approached the two. "How are you two?" She beamed.

"Ah, Wendy. It's great to see you." Julia replied.

"Yes, it looks as if you've done quite a bit of growing." Let added.

"Hey everyone, I'm new!" Belnika added, gaining greetings in return.

"Um, where are Happy and Lucy, poyo?" Ruby questioned after unsuccessfully spotting two of the people they had met at his casino. Natsu frowned, a familiar pained sadness immediately lacing his blood. The arrival of familiar faces had alleviated some of the anguish, but now the dull ache was back.

"Well, it's nice to meet you young lads. My name is Makarov Dreyar, and I'm the guild master for Fairy Tail." He introduced himself. "But, like was stated before, Lucy, as well as Happy, is missing. They've been gone for some time now."

"Ah, crap, man!" Haru placed a sympathetic arm on Natsu's exposed shoulder. "I'm really sorry, I thought you just meant missing like she hadn't showed up yet..."

"Me too, poyo!" Ruby said with tears almost in his eyes. How could he be so insensitive!?

"It's fine, there isn't really any need for apologies. But that's why we are in this tournament. So we can hopefully reach out to her and tell her we want her back."

"I'm not sure I follow..." Haru wasn't clear.

"Well, come on. The event starts soon. I'll fill you in on everything while we walk over." They headed to the doors and left.

\----------

"So what's up?" Haru questioned as the two stepped into pace. He didn't know why Natsu was going to confide in him. Maybe it was because they were similar, or so their friends had told them. After all, they had both felt a connection in the first few moments they had met.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Natsu questioned softly. "I mean, you don't have to..."

"I know I don't. But I want to." 

"Well, basically... It started when Lucy developed feelings for me. I pushed her away and developed feelings for Lisanna. Then, after three years, I realized it was Lucy who I loved all along, but she was gone. She left because she felt undervalued, under-appreciated, and unloved. I was a selfish dick."

"Oh." Haru didn't know how to respond. 

"And now she is off with someone who has been training her, someone who defeated our entire guild in five minutes flat." He sighed at the memory. "And to top it all off, I think he is here, but I still don't know where she is. Also Happy went with her for some reason."

"So, now you're feeling some of what Lucy felt." Haru noted.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you didn't reciprocate her feelings for three years, right?" He questioned. "Imagine how much pain she must have felt... But now, you've lost the two most important people to you, Happy and Lucy. It's like you're family is gone, and now you're feeling the heartbreak."

"Why does it hurt so much, though?" Natsu stopped walking to look at Haru.

"If it doesn't hurt, then it's not love." Haru resumed their pace. "That's just the way it works."

"Well, it's stupid."

"Yes it is." Haru laughed. "But, it's worth it!"

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"Ugh." Lucy crashed down onto her bed and stared blankly up at the ceiling. Seeing Natsu brought out a range of emotions within her. Over the past few months, Thorin had instructed her to be in peak control of her powers. She should have asked if he could help her keep her emotions in check too. 

Love. That was definitely a feeling coursing through her. She knew how she felt about him, and she doubted anything would change that. He was the sole reason she had never pursued anyone else. And likely wouldn't. She loved him to the point that if he rejected her, she would never be over it. Sure she could then find a nice guy who she liked. Maybe even loved. She could start a family and move away and have a happy life. Happy and boring. It would never compare to Natsu. A life without Natsu couldn't hold a flame to a life with him. Pun intended.

Desire. Seeing him was also extraordinarily arousing to her. Even more so than ever. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him in a while, and the usual draw had been built up. Or maybe it was because they were 'mated,' as Mira had put it. The idea that girls didn't want sex as much as guys was total bull. At least to Lucy. Because, as it stood, all she wanted to do was own every part of Natsu and claim every inch. 

Fear. What if he rejected her? What if he chose Lisanna and was just looking for her to let her know the choice? She couldn't face that. She couldn't bare to hear the words of rejection slide their way from his perfect mouth. And why couldn't she reveal herself? Why couldn't they publicly show their faces? A large portion of her wanted to show off her increase in power. She would have to ask Thorin, or Evangeline, Orenda was too aloof to change anything, and she could always just flirt with Es.

"Knock, knock." A familiar voice came from her door. She heard it quietly creak open. She didn't bother sitting up, she just remained frustratedly flat against the cozy bed.

"You could have either just knocked, or said 'hey.'" She said dryly, not quite understanding why he merged the two. "But I was just thinking about you, I have a question." 

"Well, you haven't used your one for the day yet." Thorin responded playfully.

"Are we still on that?" She asked below her breath so he didn't count that as her question. "I'm wondering why I, we, have to wear the cloaks. It's only been one day and I'm already tired of hiding who I am."

"Are you now?" He responded sincerely and took a seat next to her. "You mind?" She didn't object.

"It must be because of how long it took me to tell Natsu how I felt. I guess I just don't want to hide myself or any part of it anymore." She admitted.

"I see." Thorin nodded before a thought crossed his mind. "That's how nudists think!"

"No, dummy! I'm not talking about that!" She slapped his leg. "Is there any way you guys could consider ditching the garbs?"

"I personally don't care for them." He admitted. "I can't say they will be swayed. But I can honestly say they won't stay that mad if you took it off at the start of an event..." He smiled playfully, so did Lucy.

"Think they'd be alright?" She liked his idea. 

"Yes eventually..." He was cut off by a loud announcement.

"Will the teams competing please make their way to Domus Flau. The first event will begin in 15 minutes!" 

"Let's go." Thorin said.

\----------

"And a grand hello to everybody!!" Mato roared. "How are we all doing today!?" The volume of the crowd answered his question. "Good! Good! Now, who is ready for the first event!?" The cheers of the thousands in the crowd once again answered his question.

"Will the following members from each team please come to the arena!" 

"From Team Fairy Tail A: Wendy Marvel!"

"From Team Fairy Tail B: Freed Justine!"

"From Team Mermaid Heel: Kagura Mikazuchi!"

"From Team Blue Pegasus: Jenny Realight!"

"From Team Lamia Scale: Yuka Suzuki!"

"From Team Rave: Let!"

"From Team Sabertooth: Rufus Lore!"

"From Team Suberashi: Four!"

The audience roared at the announcement of who would be participating, and it wasn't long before people started speculating who would win the first event. Not that anyone knew what it actually was.

"It looks like we are going to have an interesting first event!" Chapati voiced his opinions. "It's going to be a difficult one to predict!"

"I agree." Yajima supported as the eight walked out of their respective entrances and headed towards the center. "Both members from Fairy Tail, Wendy and Freed have vastly risen through the ranks. Kagura has trained to become extraordinarily powerful. Jenny Realight has been perfecting her Machina Takeover, but all it takes is a one on one from Yuka to halt all attacks with his vibrations. Let helped to save the Eastern Continent, and is one of the most formidable warriors around. All it takes is one look from Rufus for him to copy any magic he wants. And as for, well, 'four,' he is anyone's guess..."

"It looks as if Mato is announcing the event."

\----------

"Today's event is called Beacon Rescue!" He proudly announced.

"This game combines a foot race with capture the flag with battles!"

"The city has been evacuated, and somewhere in it is a flag that you must retrieve!"

"After obtaining the flag, it must be returned to this spot!" He spoke from the center of the arena.

"After the flag is retrieved and returned, it respawns in a different location somewhere in the city."

"Teams can fight, steal, and trick in order to retrieve the flag, hence the battle portion."

"The first team that returns the flag gains 10 points, with each subsequent return earning one less point."

"Now, if all the teams are ready... Let's start the countdown." Everyone took an intensely focused running start position except for Kagura and Thorin.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Go!"

\----------

Thorin looked at the other opponents who took off at the top speed. A smug smile graced his concealed lips and a light chuckle escaped them as he held out his hand a flicked his wrist to the right, then held out the other and flicked it to the left. A wave of energy send out in both directions and the moment it passed his opponents they fell to their knees with the sudden increase in their own weight. 

"Crap, it is him!" Wendy yelled loud enough for Natsu to catch it.

"What's happening?" Jenny yelled, her Machina suddenly failing to activate.

"I...can't...nullify this!" Yuka yelled, in a similarly impaired condition.

Thorin began walking away, securing an easy victory. This was easy, far too easy, and he was glad that his powers fit in well with the event he was chosen for. He exited the arena without any interference, and it wasn't ten minutes before Thorin was halfway to reaching the beacon that's pillar of light shot off into the sky. However, his ease at winning was shaken when a force hit him from above and his knees began trembling. He quickly reduced his own weight and turned around to see Kagura moving freely towards him. 

"Not so fast." He said before he held out two fingers and moved them slightly downward. Kagura, too stumbled, but after activating her own magic regained her footing. She turned and hit Thorin with a Gravity Change, but he just fixed it with a Weight Change.

"Hm."

"Quite."

"So, I make you weigh more, and you decrease gravity."

"And I increase your gravity, and you make yourself weigh less." 

"Then it appears our base powers are effectively useless against each other."

Kagura sighed, slightly dismayed at the conundrum. "Then I suppose I have no their choice but to win at any costs." She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I'm sorry." She unsheathed the blade and swung it in Thorin's direction.

Thorin looked to his left, then to his right. Archenemy, the 'Blade of Resentment,' or 'Revenge's Bane.' It is a fabled weapon, that just like Suberashi, was real. In the right hands, the nodachi could cause a cataclysm. Cataclysm, that was a term constantly heard, yet never seen. A cataclysm could end an entire city, and when Thorin saw the rush of blue energy forcing its way towards him, he knew that is was a good thing the king had evacuated the city for this event. He could let the attack hit him, obviously, and that result would yield the minimalist amount of damage for the town, or he could project his Will outward and completely scatter the shot. Scattering it would leave him unharmed, but it would destroy a rather large portion of the city. All this though for a single attack... She was a formidable opponent. He decided. Thorin extended his arm. At the very worst Orenda could just fix the city again.

The attack slammed against his hand and he grunted from the sudden strain, yet he would never admit pain. The light scattered around him and off to the sides, almost as if a wave had hit the side of a cliff. Thorin kept exerting willpower until the attack finally let up, and when he observed his new surrounding, which were nothing short of ash, he knew the blade was just as destructive as the lore surrounding it.

"Whoa!" Chapati roared over the intercom. "Are you all seeing this!?" He loudly questioned as he grabbed his hat which was making an effort to fly off of his head. The attack didn't just end when it was blocked, instead a massive shockwave make its way to Domus Flau causing a violent 'wind' with the strength of a hurricane to disheveled the audience.

"He managed to block Archenemy without much effort." Yajima simply put. "I'm starting to think that this Suberashi wasn't as laughworthy as you all thought."

"I've never seen that be blocked. However I've rarely employed Archenemy at this level. I'm impressed." Kagura admitted while keeping her face entirely stoic, devoid of any emotion.

The attack was impressive, but it didn't come close to Lucy's Gottfried, or even her new Urano Metria, who could both not only break though any defense he could erect, but also leave him unconscious. Through his cloaked face, he made eye contact with Kagura, who readied her blade for another strike. He focused his energy outward once again, although this time he employed a technique he spent much time practicing. 

Before Kagura could react, there was another Thorin... And then another... And another... Surprised by the sudden arrival of ten new opponents, her attack fizzled from lack of concentration.

"As a former member of the Magic Council, I'd recognize that magic anywhere." Yajima spoke. "He's using Thought Projection, although I've never seen it be used for more than one projection at a time."

"But is it able to be done?" Chapati questioned.

"Obviously, however, just keeping one active is a toll on the user. And even then, most your focus has to be on remotely controlling the image; your main body usually goes in a state similar to being comatose. The fact that he has ten out, is controlling them, and is still conscious is a true testament to the strength of Suberashi." Yajima admitted.

"They're just thought projections, however, so they are just being used a means of confusion for his opponent." Chapati retorted. "And considering who he is facing, a distraction is exactly what he needs."

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Well that confirms it!" Natsu yelled, "That's gotta be him!" He lunged forward, intent on jumping into the battle and asking some questions. Gray and Erza had to physically restrain him, lest they be disqualified.

"Cool off, man!" Gray yelled.

"Natsu!" Erza also yelled as her grin began to loosen. "So help me, I will knock you out and you'll wake up on a train!" Natsu heard the threat, no promise, loud and clear, and immediately forced a calm composure.

"I'm calm, you can let go now." He said meekly, once again, something was holding him back from Lucy.

"Haven't we established this." Erza scolded. "Lucy left on her own accord, if what Mira said is true. And if it is true, then Lucy and Thorin are friends, and I doubt she'd be too thrilled if you beat him up. Beat him up...that is if you can even land a single hit." 

"What!" Natsu yelled, "I can take that bastard!" His ego was insulted.

"Yes, Natsu." Gray added, "Because the entirety of our guild was so useful against him last time..." Gray finished sarcastically.

"And besides, Natsu. He admitted he wasn't even human, we don't fully know what we are up against." Erza finished.

"Whatever." Natsu wanted nothing more to do with this day. "I'm heading back to the hotel, call me if I'm in the battle rounds."

"Wait." Pulse stood in front of him, blocking his angry strut. "Your, our..." He corrected himself. "friend is down there. Shouldn't you be here supporting her. It doesn't take a lot of people skills to know how much she looks at you like a brother."

"She's fully immobilized, she can only hope for 3rd place at best." He dismissed, yet turned to look at the impaired Wendy, but wait... Something different. Was she moving?

\----------

Kagura looked before her, the thought projections wouldn't distract her. They were harmless, essentially holograms. She only had to worry about the one true opponent. And she knew exactly which one was him. The thought projections were a good idea, they took on the appearance of how the user pictured themselves. However, that was its flaw. When her attack had struck Thorin, he obviously didn't see that it had slightly singed his hand and burnt off some of the sleeve. Because he wasn't yet privy to that knowledge, he made his thought projections with the sleeves left untouched. Between knowing which one was him and the fact they were harmless, his tactic was useless. 

It was useless, right? So why, after ignoring an approaching hologram, did said hologram physically punch her in the stomach. That was it! She had the wrong main target. How could she be so careless. He knew his coat wasn't singed, but made one that was, clever. She took after the one who punched her, ignoring another approaching thought projection. She swung her blade, intend on dealing maximum damage against the cloaked man, but the ignored thought projection simply grabbed her wrist, stopping her attack. How was this possible? 

"Getting it yet?" Thorin asked as he caused a wave of pressure to slam into her side, knocking her away from his thought projections. 

"They're..." She looked between each of the ten holograms, but realized there were only 9. She swung her blade backwards causing a devastating beam of energy to traverse forward. Just like she thought, there was a thought projection that had snuck behind her. Her blow seemed to end its existence. She turned back to the main group. "They're physical." She ascertained. 

"You don't seem too frazzled by that observation." Kagura finally smiled.

"No." She put bluntly, remembering how she just had easily gotten rid of the thought projection behind her. "Because I know you're only going to defend your main body." She reversed the position of her katana and gripped it with both hands before thrusting it forward and bringing down to the earth in a finishing strike. "Sword Blossom!" She yelled before energy vastly radiated outward, engulfing most the city in a huge blast of energy. To team Fairy Tail, it looked similar to one of Acnologia's roars.

This new shockwave threatened to blow away the audience members, each one grabbing to their seats in order to gain some form of stability. And when all was over, and the light disappeared and agape jaws from viewers finally closed, all that was left in the blast area was a severe disheveled Thorin, all other projections immediately disintegrated. She was right, he only protected his many body, and even then, just barely. 

His cloak was all but gone, his face now on full display for viewers everywhere. His closed eyes snapped open and when he finally looked up at Kagura, she recognized the emotion painted in his deep green spheres. It was the same emotion and look she used to be greeted with every day. The same emotion conveyed back to her with every glimpse at her own reflection. Hatred. She didn't even have time to react before he closed the distance between them, seemingly moving just as fast as she could blink. He grabbed her sword with one hand and her throat with the other, then dismissively chucked the blade while he focused all his energy into the hand around her throat. As he let go, she immediately crashed to the ground, now weighing far more than was humanly possible. The cold, stony earth cracked beneath the impact of her new weight. She was unconscious, hopefully just that. And the audience was dead quiet, fear and uncertainty now running through them.

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"That's really, really not good." Es, for once, was dead serious. 

"I know." Evangeline added. "Orenda, that look in his eye... Just like before... What's wrong?"

"I thought this might happen, I think her attack knocked the seal I placed on him loose."

"What seal?" Happy questioned.

"Yea, what's going on?" Lucy pushed, although both their questions were unanswered.

"Can you fix it?" Es' tone conveyed a deep worry.

"I'm honestly not sure." Orenda admitted. 

\----------

With his opponent defeated, Thorin walked towards the beacon, he remembered the light being broadcasted in a different location, but maybe he was wrong. After retrieving it, he headed back to the center of Domus Flau in order to receive his points. He wasn't expecting to be met with cheers, but he wasn't expecting the deafening silence either. The audience was too worried to react in any way. Without much thought on the topic, he placed the flag in the center, next to Mato who smiled up at him. "Took things a bit far, didn't we?" The stare Thorin gave him ceased his joking attitude. "And in 7th place! Suberashi!"

"7th!?" Thorin questioned.

"Oh, yea, while you two were busy fighting, your magic faded from the others. They all got the beacons before you did."

The scoreboard displayed the score of the event prior, and as Thorin saw a big old '+2' next to Suberashi, he quietly cursed. 

\----------  
Score Board: Beacon Rescue  
\----------

1st: Fairy Tail A

2nd: Sabertooth

3rd: Rave

4th: Fairy Tail B

5th: Blue Pegasus

6th: Lamia Scale

7th: Suberashi

8th: N/A

\----------

"If everyone not present will make their way to the area a, the battle round will begin soon!"

Next Chapter -   
Day 1: Battle Round


	37. Day 1: Battle 1 (Laxus vs Es)

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"Thorin!" Evangeline raised her voice as he walked back through the corridor, regrouping after his 'victory.' "What the hell was that?! Way too far!"

"What was what?" Throwing shrugged off the criticism. 

"You went way too far, dude." Es added, walking closer. "You could have beat her without using that much power, she's in critical condition!" He added angrily. Their goal wasn't to harm others. Not only did this violate a belief, but it looked bad. Relay, really bad. 

"Hn." He dismissed once again. "She will get over it." He continued walking before turning around, his tone of voice sending chills down everyone's spine. "And if she doesn't, then I guess she isn't as strong as everyone thinks." He exited the room.

"What the hell?" Lucy turned towards her fellow members once the God was out of earshot.

"Yea, you guys said that the seal might have come loose, is that why he was acting all weird?" Happy pushed.

"And what's the seal, anyways?" Lucy questioned once more, pushing the fact that Thorin was way out of character since Kagura's attack.

Orenda turned and looked at the blonde and her cat and answered, well as best she could. "Oh, Lucy, and Happy, I wish we could tell you, but there are secrets for a reason, and some things are better left in the dark. Es, you're up." As she finished a voice boomed over the intercom.

"Battle one will be between One of Suberashi and Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail: B. Will both candidates please report to the center of the arena.

Es began to walk away before Lucy called after him. "Wait, please, Es, tell me something!? What's going on?" She ran up to him, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Sorry, Lucy, hopefully soon it will be nothing." He turned to look out at the entrance to the coliseum. "I've got to go, wish me luck." He placed his hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Good luck." She replied softly as Happy flew onto her shoulder.

\----------  
Day One - Battle One: Laxus vs 1  
\----------

"So, you're my opponent?" Laxus asked, arms crossed, stance dismissive. "I have no idea who you are, but I know you are friends with that asshole, Thorin, and that you probably have information on Lucy."

Es smiled under his cloak, Thorin already blew his cover, it shouldn't matter if he did as well. He grabbed the hem of the black attire and yanked it off, fully exposing his detailed armor as well as his face. "As a matter of fact I do have information on her." He smiled "And I'll be more than happy to share it with you if you can defeat me."

"Someone's a little cocky." Laxus smiled back, "I guess it's a good think the audience is magically protected, this is gonna get messy." He simply brought his arm up and slammed it down, recreating overdrive power once again. Thorin might have been able to block the last one, somehow, but this one was much more powerful and he was facing a new opponent, it was unlikely to be stopped twice. 

The Lightning drop hailed from the sky and slammed into the ground right in front of Es. The yellow light violently expanded and quickly hit the sides of the arena before shooting back upwards as the runes blocked it from hitting the audience who all gasped in awe. This level of magic power wasn't normal to be seen, and now they all had a front row seat.

In hindsight, Laxus should have done any other attack in order to test the magic of his opponent. Because if the redirection and absorption of the electricity was any indication, the attack was useless against Es who held his arms outstretched, the lighting wrapping around his hands before disappearing. 

"Nice try." He flicked the small traces of remaining light inning off of his wrist towards the ground, exploding it under the energy. "My magic fully negates electricity, I suggest another tactic if you'd like to beat me. Overall, I'd say this match is a tad one sided."

"Your magic stops electricity?" Laxus enveloped himself in an electrical aura, if thunder wouldn't directly hurt him, pure physical force would. 

"Well, that's one part of it, I guess." He extended his right arm causing three large liquid metallic spheres to emerge from his armor. They moved behind him, hovering in suspension, awaiting their move.. "I govern magnetism. Mainly metal, but electricity isn't too different."

Laxus dashed forward, enveloped by a yellow aura, while Es moved one of the floating orbs behind him to his front. 

\----------  
Thorin's Room  
\----------

"Thorin?" Orenda called as she turned the corner, hoping to find the god before things got too out of hand. And boy did she hope things didn't get too out of hand. There was a reason for her worry. An apocalyptic reason and one that Lucy was pressing the answer to. She would have to fill in Lucy eventually, for obvious reasons. She was a valued team member and her magic power was quickly growing through the ranks. She was now probably stronger than Evangeline and Orenda, but Orenda would let Lucy figure that out on her own. But then again, it was difficult to actually compare the member's magic as each was so different. "Thorin? Are you....oh." 

She stopped speaking when she saw his frame facing a mirror, and then paled when she saw something that wasn't a good sign. His hair was styled differently. Not anymore was it loose and hanging, but now it was tied up in the back, pulling the hair away from his face. The change wasn't an issue, what it represented was. That was the hairstyle that Thorin used to use before... "Oh, Orenda." He turned around. "Is there something you needed?"

Fear was a feeling mostly foreign to Orenda, yet right now, as she saw Thorin's appearance greatly resembling who, or rather, what he was in the past, that's all she could feel. "Your....your hair." She pointed out, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Ah." He smiled a grin that was too eerie for her to keep composure. "I thought I'd try something different. I tried a few other styles, but none quite stood out. I quite like it, don't you?"

"Yes, it's nice." She lied, if she could get close enough she could reset the seal. "But actually if you do it like this, I think it might be a little better, may I?" She walked forward, her confidence bubbling through, Thorin nodded in confirmation. She reached up to his head, the height made it a bit difficult but as soon as her hands were around her head she surged her magic through him. 

\----------  
Battlefield  
\----------

Thump. Thump.

A 'heartbeat' resounded in everyone's ears. Most the spectators just assumed it was part of the battle they were watching. Laxus' punch slammed into the shield Es placed in front of him, the force from the attack sending him skidding backwards. The heartbeat. Es knew it was Orenda, and Laxus knew it wasn't them.

"I'm betting you know what that was too?" Laxus asked as he sent a flurry of punches towards Es who blocked each one with his hand, showcasing minimal effort. Es then grabbed one of Laxus' punches and threw him backwards, slamming him to the ground.

"Yes, I do. And you should be thanking us for saving all of your lives." Laxus angrily stood up and once again lunged, fist electrically charged.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean!?" He rushed forward, but Es sidestepped at the last second.

"That's on a need-to-know basis." Es replied as he held out his hand towards Laxus, causing the electrical energy around him to immediately be absorbed. Laxus turned heel and quickly noticed his complete inability to use lightning. Es just smiled before he slammed his fists together causing all sound to go blank and a bright light to illuminate from himself. The audience had to shield their eyes as his attack blinded the entire field and skyrocketed upward, the magical barrier unknowingly saving the lives of all the audience. Sound resumed and a low humming radiated outward, the magic intensifying. The hum turned into a low piercing noise and the shock wave that followed couldn't be blocked by the barriers. 

The audience was knocked back, some flying out of their seats. Mothers grabbed their children out of fear and men held onto their women and families. The water from pools, fountains, creeks and streams around Crocus burst violently upward into the air. The audience screamed as one of the walls from Domus Flau fell down the large cliff. Buildings further out crumpled under the force of the magic power. Clouds in the sky were forced away and dissipated by the shock wave. This spell was catastrophic.

The light, energy, and pitch suddenly faltered, and the attack seemed to slightly contract and surge backwards before forcing itself outward in one last push, the sound continuing in a low droning. 

When the light faded all that was left was a panicked and injured crowd, a fractured city, and an unconscious Laxus.

\----------  
Thorin's Room  
\----------

Thorin looked at Orenda quizzically. "Orenda, what are you doing here? When did you get here?" 

'Good.' She though, his lack of recent memory meant the seal had been reconstituted. "Oh, I just came to check up on you, you didn't look so good after the battle." Her words made Thorin turn towards the mirror. Orenda took a step away.

"What the hell happened to my hair?" He asked as he removed the clamp keeping it kept into place.

"I couldn't tell you." She smiled. Before the whole building violently shook, causing her to be knocked down, Thorin catching her as he too stumbled. "Come on, Es' battle is probably over by now, if that surge of energy was any indicator. He must have used 'Anti-Matter' Magic."

"Is he trying to kill everyone here?" Thorin asked seriously. 

"No, but he knew the barrier would keep the audience and everyone else safe. And I'm sure it only knocked out his opponent."

"Or rendered him comatose." Thorin argued. "He should stick to plain Magnetism Magic, Anti Mater Magic is overboard."

"Are you really one to speak on going overboard?" When Thorin looked at her just as curiously as a moment ago she clarified. "You placed that girl, Kagura, in intensive care." He must have already forgotten.

"Oh." Was all he replied.

"And also you're lucky no one noticed that pretty much all of crocus is five inches lower than it used to be." His Weight Change had slightly sunk the city. She teleported both of them to where Lucy, Happy, Happy, and Evangeline were.

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"This is Suberashi?" Erza asked in disbelief, shielding her face from the force winds the attack had kicked up.

"I guess we know why Alvarez didn't dare touch Pergrande." Gray replied, also in shock. He had taken the time to investigate Suberashi and figure out at least where they had come from.

"If that attack wasn't confined... I can't imagine what it would have done." Wendy held onto the railing to keep from the harsh gusts surrounding them. "I mean look what it did when it was confined."

"If these are the guys training Lucy, how strong has she become?" Natsu asked rhetorically. He wished he could see how far she has progressed. After seeing that single attack, his hopes for defeating Suberashi were instantly shattered, he doubted anyone could beat them individually and if all Five were together... 

"Unrecognizable." Pulse responded.

"What?" Natsu turned towards the hybrid.

"The answer to your question. If Suberashi is training Lucy, how strong has she become? The answer is unrecognizable."

"Then...that means Lucy could..." Wendy began.

"Lucy could very well be one of the other three members here." Erza finished. 

"I'm gonna go find out!" Natsu took off running before Gray reached out and grabbed his collar. Natsu's feet ran forward as his body stayed behind, and Natsu soon found himself falling to the ground.

"Not so fast, husband dearest." Gray said sarcastically. "Hypothetically, let's just say that Lucy isn't one of the other three. Is staging a confrontation with these people really something you want to do?"

"Yes!" Natsu stood up and began to run before Gray repeated the action and Natsu once again fell on his behind.

"I figured you'd say that." Gray sighed. "Guys, some help?" He turned towards Pulse, Erza, Wendy, and Carla.

"One of their members defeated our entire guild in a mater of minutes without attaining so much as a scratch. He was able to effortlessly go toe to toe with Mira, Laxus, and myself, and then You, Wendy and Gajeel without skipping a beat. Then he was able to subdue everyone, including Master and Gildarts from a few miles away. And you just saw what he did to Kagura, someone who could somewhat negate his powers, out of anger." Erza finished recounting the memories.

"And this new one was able to defeat Laxus in seconds, and throw everything into chaos with one attack." Wendy said to Natsu. 

"The question should be: Do you want to be alive or dead when you reconnect with Lucy?" Carla asked. Natsu seemed to reflect on this.

"So... I should... wait and see... if any of the other members have... Celestial Spirit Magic?" He questioned uncharacteristically calm, choosing his words carefully. 

"Yes." Erza nodded. "That's the safest course of action."

"Alright, I've waited this long, another four days max shouldn't be too much, right?" He asked standing up and smiling at the though he was only a few days away from seeing the girl of his dreams. "We've just got to do our best till then so Lucy will want to come back."

The other members just looked at each other before they all nodded. Gray looked towards Natsu and comfortingly placed his hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Natsu, there's something we need to tell you." He began.

"W...what?" Natsu asked.

"Your plan is really stupid." Gray put bluntly. "It literally makes no sense. Win the Grand Magic Games so Lucy notices us and comes back. Lucy already knows we exist, and she's already told Mira she isn't going away forever... So all this... Kinda lame..."

"But... But... Sabertooth is doing the same thing!" Natsu replied, there, he just successfully defended his stance.

"Well, no." Wendy interjected. "Sting is missing, and they're using publicity to get a global manhunt going... It's actually a good idea..."

"Well, I still think my plain is awesome!" He cheered, but his friends had a point. "Let's just win this for Lucy!"

"That's a much better plan." They all smiled.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled in realization. "Is that why Haru didn't know what the hell I was talking about!?"


	38. Day 1: Battle 2 (Gray vs Haru)

"The next battle will be between..." Mato announced as the screen broadcasting the players lit up and scrolled randomly, almost like a slot machine. The images finally settled on a dark haired Mage with a Fairy Tail logo at the bottom right of the screen and a white haired male with a symbol of a blue sword at the bottom right of his image. "It looks like it's going to be Fairy Tail's Gray Fillabuster vs Rave's Haru Glory!!" The audience began to cheer as the contestants made their way to the center of the arena. 

"Hey Gray!" Haru greeted as he swung his sword behind his back and extended his right arm in greeting. "Good luck!" He beamed as Gray grabbed his hand and shook it.

"You too, man." He had only met Haru a couple of times, however, he could tell he was a good kid. Gray wouldn't go all out in this fight, he would rather have fun. 

"Oh!" Haru's face lit up. "Congratulations!"

"What?" Gray questioned, not fully understanding.

"On your marriage. I mean, I always thought you swung that way, I just wasn't sure." He smiled innocently.

Gray then decided he wouldn't hold back. It was bad enough he was 'married' to his best MALE friend, but now people were actually starting to think he was gay. It started with Juvia and now Haru, either way, Gray was kind of ticked.

"Let the battle begin!" Mato yelled over the intercom, prompting Gray to quickly remove his shirt and enter a battle position.

"Oh, come on man, sorry to say but I don't swing that way... And I'm already taken.." Haru admitted.

"Oh, for the love of..." Did this guy seriously think Gray was trying to hit on him. "It's not like that!" He yelled in defense before the markings on his arm extended themselves over his torso. His hair suddenly slicked itself upwards and his features sharpened. Gray had found out that the markings on his body acted as a free spell power up. While they could also greatly harm demons, he could activate them to greatly enhance the effects of a single spell, and devastatingly so. It was basically a rechargeable super boost, and since he wanted to end the battle fast, he was using it right out of the gates. 

"On the offensive already!?" Haru responded as he, himself, got into a fighting stance by slightly bending his knees, slumping forward, and holding his sword in front of his body is a tennis-like stance.

"Ice make:" He placed his right hand in front of his face, palm flat, before he thrust it downwards in a karate chop. "Silver." 

The audience felt the sudden drop in temperature as the area in front of Gray flash froze. And as the audience began to shiver, icy mist puffed upward as a residual effect of Silver. But as the mist cleared, the audience roared in applause as they looked at the aftermath of the attack. 

The area in front of Gray was turned to ice, exactly like what the impressive devil slaying enhanced attack was supposed to do. However, right in the center, the attack left cone of unfrozen earth stretching behind a smug Haru, who had bifurcated the attack with Ten Commandments: Rune Save.

Gray's eyes widened in surprise. Haru was more experienced than Gray gave him credit for, and he had greatly underestimated his reaction speed. But then again, he was praised as one of the greatest Heroes on Earthland, a title Gray, nor anyone he knew, had received. "I'm surprised you ---"

"Silpharion!" Haru cut him off as the glowing change of his sword was suddenly the only visible remnant of where he was standing. Haru was closing in on Gray, and fast! The least he could do was take friction out of the equation.

"Ice Make: Floor!" He slammed his right fist down onto his upward facing left palm and then continued to press both hands into the earth. Ice quickly crept forward towards where he thought Haru was, however, the white haired warrior was moving too fast. He suddenly appeared behind Gray.

Gray lifted his arm, causing ice to rise upwards, blocking the first strike which crumpled under Haru's sword. But as soon as he struck, Haru disappeared and reappeared to the back-left of Gray, who rose another defense. As that defense crumbled, Haru did the same tactic twice before he managed to outsmart Gray. Gray attempted to block, again. However, rather than taking the time to slow down and strike, Haru only slowed down enough for Gray to think he was going to attack. Gray quickly put up a useless defense, which would block an attack that was never there to begin with. Haru zapped behind Gray once more. The angle at which Haru appeared, mixed with the lack of appropriate reaction time, led to Haru having a clean shot at his icy opponent. 

Gray couldn't put up a new shield, so he instead leaned back, attempting to get out of the range of the sword that was now being thrust dangerously close to his throat. Gray suddenly hit something as he stepped backwards to avoid the attack, his ice shield, the one Haru didn't break. He silently cursed at his mistake, but luckily, the sword stopped a few inched from his body. Haru's range ended. The attack seemingly missed, but that didn't explain Haru's smile. His sword suddenly lit aglow, and Gray's eyes once again went wide.

"Explosion!" Haru yelled as the blast erupted in front of him. 

The explosion disintegrated the ice behind him, and Gray was sent flying backwards. He traveled several tens of meters before his body skidded to a halt. His remaining cloths were burnt and his body was covered in either char, dirt, or large bleeding scrapes from contact with the rough earth beneath him. There was a large wound under his right eye, above his left pectoral, and on both his forearms and kneecaps. He wasn't in great condition, but he could still fight.

"Shit." Gray cursed as he shakily began to stand, taking a few moments to do so. How could he have let this happen? He wasn't even this pressured fighting the Spriggan 12 (assuming he doesn't get too messed up in the future manga chapters). 

"Huh. That combo usually gets the job done. I guess you're pretty resilient." Haru admitted playfully. The kid could fight, but he didn't have a mean bone in his body.

"Ice Make: Lance!" He pressed his right fist against his upward facing left palm and then pressed his right arm froward. A magic seal appeared and multiple curving arrows were sent flying forward, each twisting and wrapping, intending on striking their target.

"I'm sorry, but you should forfeit. This just wasn't a good match up. Mel Force!" Haru yelled as he held his sword outward, his left hand grabbing onto the top part of the blade. Gusts of powerful winds were sent to intercept the lances. And as the two forces met, the ice shattered but the pressurized gale continued towards Gray who outstretched his arms to the side.

"Ice Make: Shield!" A thick plane of ice erupted in front of him, and as the winds hit the newly formed wall, they were dispersed to the sides. "What was that you were saying?" Gray mockingly questioned as the audience roared with excitement.

"Silpharion!" Haru yelled as he zipped forward.

"Ice Make ---"

"Explosion!" Haru shouted as he slammed his sword downward, only midway between Gray and his starting distance. However, the force,of the blast launched him upwards, soaring up above his opponent. 

"Gungnir!" Gray exclaimed causing a pillar of ice to spite upwards towards Haru, who began his descent. 

"Gravity Core!" Haru yelled once agin, causing his blade to glow gold before settling into a dark black color. As his blade touched the gungnir, the ice shattered down to its core. Gray attempted to move his body, but the pain prohibited him from doing so. Haru swiftly fell the rest of the distance downward, and as his sword slammed into the ground, both the audience and the earth erupted, the former with applause. 

This attack once again sent Gray flying back a little before he slammed horizontally into the arena wall. Gray knew he should give up, but the shouts of his friends in the audience above him made him fight off those thoughts.

"Come on!" He heard Natsu yell just overhead. "I know you can do this, Gray!" Gray. Natsu never called him that, endless things were serious. He normally called him a stupid name. This gave Gray just enough strength to continue fighting a little more. If it was important enough for Natsu to forgo nicknames, then it was important enough to win.

"Ice Devils: Rage!" A purple beam of ice shot out of Grays mouth and rapidly made its forceful way toward Haru, the ground beneath and around the beam instantly freezing. 

"Ten Commandments:" Haru swung the sword forward, causing it to glow brightly before settling on an orange color scheme. "Million Suns." 

A ball of energy appeared at the tip of his sword. It shone brightly before it expanded outward, a fully omnidirectional attack. As the orange light touched the ice on the field, it immediately melted. And as it intercepted Gray's attack, the rage immediately dissipated as if it had hit a solid wall. However, despite the Million Suns instantly thawing all ice and incredibly warming up the field, it did no actual harm to Gray as the attack passed by him. 

"You..." Gray was at a loss for words, he was already weak and bleeding, and the explosion most likely caused unseen injuries too. Now he just found out that fighting Haru was literally pointless so long as he had an attack that could dispel ice. 

"The rules state that victory is achieved either when an opponent is defeated, or they give up. Please don't make me go any further, Gray." Haru pleaded despite being completely unscathed. His sword suddenly split in two, one burning and one sending out frosty mist.

Gray should give up. He couldn't land an attack, and now Haru was using the Twin Dragon Swords. Swords that could deal both Fire and Ice Dragon Magic. This fight was pointless. So why, then, was gray once more pressing his right hand into his left palm. Answer: A draw.

"What are you doing now!?" Haru questioned.

"Ice Make: Hail Meteor." Gray suddenly collapsed, the spell draining the rest of his magic power. 

The area suddenly darkened, and Haru looked skyward. A massive, monstrous chuck of circular ice had formed above head and was quickly making its descent downwards. Gray had intended to end the match for both of them with this attack. It was the only way Haru couldn't run or dodge, and it was definitely large enough to be left unthreatened by the Ten Commandments sword. 

"Million Suns!" Haru pointed his sword upward and sent a massive solar beam towards the hail. As the attack hit, it did little to melt the compact ice. If Haru kept at it, it would eventually dwindle down to nothing. But based on the rate of descent, the attack would land with devastating implications before Haru could even make a sizable dent...

"Mel Force!" Wind shot out of his blade and slammed fiercely against the ice chunk, slightly slowing it down.   
"Explosion!" A trail of blasts followed the wind to the ice and began to chip away chunks of it. Haru began to think that he might just be able to pull this off.   
"Million Suns!" This time, as the solar attack hit, it manages to instantly sublimate the smaller chunks of discarded ice. He could do this!

"Cold Excalibur!" Gray suddenly shouted as he slashed at Haru who was too distracted by the Hail Meteor to even notice that Gray had gotten up. The attack was a clean hit. Haru fell to the ground.

And as Gray dispelled the arial attack into dust, he too collapsed from his previous injuries. 

\----------

Gray awoke some time later, lying in a cot. He was now completely bandaged up, and more than likely healed a little from Wendy. He didn't know the outcome of the battle, and he was still in pain, but a single voice made everything seem better.

"Gray!" The blue haired woman threw herself into Gray's embrace as she realized he was awake. "Juvia was so worried about her dear Gray!" She began to cry. "Juvia is also sorry for how Juvia acted earlier! I should have known Gray would never leave Juvia for Natsu-San!" 

Gray just smiled as he felt the warmest of her body, and he hugged her back and kissed her atop the head as he felt the coolness of her tears. "I'm just glad we are back to normal, Juvia. I missed you." He admitted, even though he knew she would come around sometime or another.

"That makes Juvia happy!" She nuzzled her head into Gray's nape more, causing him to tingle at the contact. "Juvia doesn't even care we didn't get any points for the round." Gray suddenly grabbed her shoulders and held her outward, looking surprisingly into her eyes.

"Wait." He instructed. "What do you mean by no points?" 

"Well, you lost the fight." Juvia admitted to her love.

"No I didn't, I remember passing out, but that was after I hit Haru with Cold Excalibur. He was down first!" 

"You got your ass handed to you and you're surprised that one attack didn't take down the person who was holding out the silver platter?" Erza sarcastically asked as she walked into the room. 

Gray just smacked his forehead. Erza had a point.

\----------

"I'm surprised he lost." Lucy thought aloud to Happy. 

"Me too!" Happy agreed. "But all of those forms did seem kind of good at dealing with ice..."

"The white haired boy did even say it was an unfair matchup." Thorin added to the conversation as he and Orenda joined the other four.

"Well it's nice of you two to join us. Where the hell have you been?" Evangeline scolded them. "You both missed Es' fight!" 

"Oh you mean the super-nuclear shock wave that we totally couldn't feel?" Thorin asked sarcastically. "Yes, because I'm sure your fight went beyond that." Es just snickered as Evangeline turned towards Lucy.

"Lucy, sweetie." The blonde turned to look at her. "That man, the Ice Mage, was your friend, right? If you wouldn't mind, I'd be more than happy to sneak into the infirmary and heal him."

Lucy smiled at her. "Thank you, but Fairy Tail has two incredibly gifted healers. And while they aren't at you're caliber, I'm sure they can fix him up."

"Alright, if you change your mind, just let me know." A thought suddenly struck her, or rather a memory. She turned to head towards the infirmary after all. "However, one of our more reckless teammates was responsible for placing that innocent Sword Mage in intensive care. I think I'll pay her a visit instead." She eyed Thorin who looked away dismissively.

The remaining four teams battled in the remaining hours of the day, two securing victory while 2 were left behind. Sabertooth dominated Lamia Scale, while, with Kagura's injuries on their minds, Mermaid Heel fell to Blue Pegasus. Overall, everyone agreed it was a great start to the Grand Magic Games.

\----------  
Day One Totals  
\----------  
1: Sabertooth----------18pt  
2: Rave----------------17pt  
3: Blue Pegasus-------15pt  
4: Suberashi-----------12pt  
5: Fairy Tail A----------10pt  
6: Fairy Tail B-----------6pt  
7: Lamia Scale----------4pt  
8: Mermaid Heel--------0pt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updating, I have been writing the more interesting later chapters. Not a good excuse, but as we pass the Grand Magic Games the chapter speed will dramatically increase. Thanks to everyone for reading, liking, and leaving comments.


	39. Day 2: Event

\----------  
Suberashi's Hotel Room  
\----------

"Wake up!" Thorin violently shook Lucy once more. Seriously, she was starting to wish that he would just throw water on her. Finally, and with a loud grunt, her eyes flickered open and her hand dismissively went swipe Thorin's off of her own.

"What, what?" She rubbed her eyes, "I'm awake now, what?" 

"We need to prepare for the event." He recounted to her.

"We?" She asked groggily. "Aren't these things usually just one person?"

"Usually." He answered. "But we were given information that stated all five members on the team would be competing during this event. And besides, only I've done an event, you could have still very well been chosen, so you should be up anyways." He finished after he heard her grunt once more.

"Fine." She sat up, and jumped out of the bed before walking over to the mirror and fiddling with her hair. "Did we get any other information?" 

"No, just what I told you. But the games start in an hour and the other four are already there. We can have Orenda teleport us to Domus Flau, or we could walk there and enjoy the city. Your choice."

"Jeez, either waiting around for a whole hour, or sightseeing and having fun in a beautiful city..." She falsely pondered.

"Ah." Thorin smiled, closed his eyes, and shook his head in understanding. "Very well, then. I'll tell Orenda to zap us there."

"Wait! I wanted the other one." 

"Oh."

\----------  
The Bar/Inn Fairy Tail is currently residing  
\----------

"Mira." Erza caught the passing white haired model's attention, bringing her over to the recently huddled Team A. 

"Good morning, everyone!" She greeted as she approached.

"Sup Mira." Natsu responded without looking up from a small not he was holding, reading.

"Did your team happen to see this?" Wendy asked her as she pointed to the note which detailed the required presence of every team member.

"Oh, yes. We did. Thank you, though!" She replied in gratitude.

"Do you happen to have any ideas on what this event might be?" Erza asked while placing her chin on her hand, thinker style. "We've been brainstorming for a while, trying to pick as many possibilities out of a lineup as we can."

"And prepare for them all?" Mira questioned. "Wouldn't it just be easier to go into it blind than to tax yourself silly trying to figure out what it 'might' be?" 

"Juvia thinks she has a point!" The girl who spoke in third person agreed.

"You all know I hate being unprepared." Erza admitted. "But very well, you may all leave. I will come up with as many possibilities and strategies as I can. And if actuality and theory overlap, then we will be one step ahead, and I will accept your apologies."

"Sounds good." Natsu dismissively stated as he already began walking off. 

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

"Hello again, everyone!" Mato greeted. The audience went wild. "I think you all know what time it is! That's right! It's time for our Day 2 Event!!! And boy do we have something special planned. If all the teams would make their way to the field, you will all find out just what we have in store!"

The teams made their way onto the arena, most looking at the eerily guised members of Suberashi, who still were matched in black cloaks. Some of the more magically sensitive member, like Gray, could feel the waves of power emanating from each of the five, despite their attempts to hold it back. Whatever was in store, the few that could feel the power knew that it was probably one sided.

"Hey!" Natsu questioned as Team A approached their predetermined destination at the north-west spot. Erza looked back at him in acknowledgement. "Isn't that Laxus? And isn't that Kagura!? Weren't they both in the hospital?" He questioned the randomness of their appearance in today's battle.

"From what I, or anyone knows, is someone or something healed all the injured contestants last night. Consider it a miracle for the time being." Erza answered, Natsu didn't ask anymore, he was just glad that his friends were okay. 

Everyone settled in a full circle around Mato who stood at the center, ready to give his instructions.

"Now listen closely, everyone. Closely. Today's Event is called Team Attack, and it's rather simple really. 

While in the arena, the participating team must preform a combo attack a giants a magical reader target-dummy. Each team member may only preform ONE spell or attack, and it must be used in conjunction with the others. This is not solely a damage based event, but you will be given three scores. Your Damage score will be counted twice, while your Performance score will be counted once, each score being out of 100. After the numbers are added up, the total will be divided by three. Team Rankings will be determined by Team Scores. The higher the score, the higher the ranking. 

Now, if there aren't any questions, we will now randomly select the order of participation by drawing a name out of a hat. Now where was that ballasted hat?"

As Mato fumbled around in search for something that was ultimately brought to him by a staff member, the other teams went back to their dugouts, awaiting their name to be called.

"Ah, alright. Just. Gotta. Shuffle." Mato said under his breath, however, once again, the microphone broadcasted his ramblings. He finally pulled out a slip of paper and held it above his head proudly. "Alright! Team number one is...."

\----------  
Team Attack: Rave  
\----------

Haru, Let, Ruby, Musica, and Elie (a last minute, legal swap for Belnika) walked onto the field as roars of cheers boosted their spirits. Haru, Ruby, and Elie eagerly responded the audience with waves, while Let and Musica made a direct and confident walk to the starting position.

"How do you think team Rave will fair in this event, Yajima?" Chapati questioned, adding some dimensional commentary for the audience.

"To be honest, I have no idea." Yajima admitted. "Each of them is regarded as a continental hero, but the fact that their true powers have yet to be seen makes their full potential largely vague. We only saw Let retrieve a flag, and we saw Haru wipe the floor with Gray Fullbuster without breaking a sweat. Individually, the other three are a total mystery, and all together, it's unfathomable."

"Deep words." Chapati noted. "It's a good thing we won't have to wait that long..."

\-----------

"Okay." Haru brought the small group to an arm linked huddle, causing Ruby to be suspended between Elie and Musica. "So we are all in agreement? Musica goes first, then a combo from Let and myself, followed by Elie then Ruby for the finish."

"Agreed." They all responded with a quick nod of the head. 

"Are you fully prepared, Ruby? I don't want you to get hurt." Elie asked him softly.

"I'm fine, poyo. I've been training a lot!" 

"Whenever you're ready!" Mato yelled over the loud speaker.

The members got into positions, and silence stretched over the audience in anticipation. The only sound that could be heard was a low wind rustling through the stadium. 

"Now!" Haru yelled.

Like Haru stated, Musica went first. He started by quickly grabbing the chain from around his neck and transforming it into its Silver Spear, a weapon of potentially cataclysmic ramifications that was forged from the super weapon known as Silver Ray. Musica ran behind the target dummy and while the others were getting into position, he held his spear upward, tip glowing, before thrusting it straight through the dummy, pinning it to the ground and causing a white shock wave to radiate outward. Musica's part was complete.

Immediately after pinning the dummy, Haru and Ruby moved quickly forward, while Let closed in from the back. As Let released a Fire Dragon's Flare from his mouth, Haru switched the Ten Commandments to Explosion form. Let's fire brilliantly spread over the attack dummy, and Haru kept the fire from passing closer by slamming Explosion downward, not only horribly damaging the already pierced and burned enemy, but also launching the tiny Ruby skywards at an alarming rate. Let and Haru had finished their part. 

Now was the final part to the combo, the breadwinner. As her team mate's attacks finished, they swiftly retreated, knowing full well they didn't want to be anywhere near Elie's attack. After a quick prayer, hands together and eyes closed, energy began to swirl around Elie, whipping up an invisible wind that swept past everyone in the city. As the magical gusts became more intense, her eyes snapped open and a magical noise resounded as she shouted a word no one expected to hear. "Etherion!" 

Starting at the base of the attack dummy and expanding outward, a white light illuminated the floor of the field. And as she released the buildup of pressure, the grounded light skyrocketed upwards in a blinding pillar. As if the catastrophic release of Etherion wasn't the finishing move to the coordinated attack, Ruby still had his part to play. The penguin humanoid was now falling back down from Haru's Explosion. He quickly held out his hands towards the light speed attack, and as it touched him, he applied all of his powers to the space in front of him. The attack reflected and rebounded, collapsing and overlapping downward, dealing twice the already immeasurable damage to the area beneath. Elie and Ruby were finished with their part.

\----------

"Holy..." Chapati was the first to speak, breaking the silence of the audience...

"That... That was...Etherion." Yajima barely got out.

"I thought it was a weapon..." Chapati responded in disbelief.

"I, too, would have never guessed it could be wielded by a person..."

\----------

"Wow." Lucy admitted as she held on to Happy, who was dangerously close to being flung backwards from the attack. Thorin suddenly collapsed. "Thorin!" She ran over, as did the others. 

"What's wrong?" Orenda questioned.

"Are you okay?" Even Es worried.

"You all realize that if I didn't put up a pressure barrier, that we would all be dead..." He had blocked the full extent of the attack. "I've never stopped that much force before... I'll be fine."

\----------

"Well, shit." Natsu swore.

"I'll say." Gray agreed.

"That much power was inside that girl?" Erza questioned. "Then why didn't we get their help during the Alakitasia invasion!?" 

"Probably because they would have been the Heroes of two continents, rather than just one." Wendy answered.

"Good point."

\----------

"Calm down, everyone!" Mato voiced as he entered the battlefield. "That was a truly impressive attack. Our judges will evaluate their damage and performance and let us know their total when the other teams have competed." He reached for his hat and began to shuffle the tickets around once again. 

"Ah, and our second team to participate is...

\----------  
Team Attack: Blue Pegasus  
\----------

Let's jump straight to the combo as I'm sure you readers would rather have a chapter out faster than useless description and fodder. Never mind, I finished the chapter faster than I though, so I'm going back to add dialogue. Nevertheless, I'm keeping the first line up as it was meant to be funny.

\----------

"Ah, so the second team to compete will be Team Blue Pegasus, that's so cool!" Jason beamed from his spot on the left.

"I suppose it is." Yajima smiled at the young man's enthusiasm. "Why don't I ask you this time, Chapati. How do you think Blue Pegasus will fare this round?"

Chapati laughed as he adjusted his hat before folding his hand over the microphone, drawing it closer to his mouth. "Well, Yajima, I have to say that you gave me quite the loaded question. This is, after all, your part of the job, I'm just the announcer." He laughed once more. "But I'd have to say that based on my knowledge, which isn't too vast, Blue Pegasus, while not the most outright powerful team, should have an easy time coordinating their attacks, as they are a guild that highly values teamwork."

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Yajima stated proudly. "Now, let's see if we are right."

\----------

Ichiya led the way for his team, which consisted of the Trimens and Jenny, onto the field. A new attack dummy, was placed in the center arena. As they all prepared their positions, the event took off.

A magical screen suddenly appeared in front of Hibiki, who began hacking away at keys until a download bar appeared over the attack dummy, slowly filling its way to full. 

While Hibiki finished his attack, Ren began swirling his hands, creating a large torrent of wind that quickly encompassed the arena. Centered on the dummy, Eve then began adding his snow into the mix, combining Ren's mini hurricane with his magic. The spell quickly evolved into their tag team Snowstorm, and the target was soon berated with powerful slicing winds, as well as sharp spikes of ice, which slowly froze it over. The download bar was at 60%.

Jenny quickly embodied her Machina Soul and took off the ground with blinding speed. She slashed through the target, and her spell allowed an after image of herself to slash through the target once more. The download was now at 85%.

Finally, it was Blue Pegasus Ace, Ichiya's, turn to go for the damage. He simply crossed his arms, turned towards Erza in the audience and said 'this is for you, my sweet' before he pointed one arm forward. Magical Bomber Christina suddenly rose upward and came into view over the high walls of Domus Flau. The ship immediately fired a volley of high powered magical projectiles which engulfed the field in individual spheres of baby blue light. 

Finally, the download reached 100%, and it was now time for Hibiki's spell, Action Replay. Any and all damage inflicted while the download was in process, is dealt to the target once again. Needless to say, as soon as Hibiki pressed 'enter,' the target was suddenly obliterated from the force of two bombings, four powerful slashes and two ice hurricanes. Their combo was finished, and the audience went wild.

Mato instructed his workers to retrieve the fragments of the dummy for analysis, and once more took out his hat and selected another team at random.

\----------

"Well, I'll be..." Yajima spoke into the microphone lacrima.

"Yes, it appears as if they did pretty well, don't you think?"

"Absolutely!" Yajima agreed. "And here comes the next guild..."

\----------  
Sabertooth  
\----------

"...Sabertooth." Yajima finished.

"You should answer this time: How do you think they will do during this event, Yajima?" Chapati playfully kept the audience entertained by adding a possible forecasting to the mix.

"This one is definitely difficult to say..." Yajima thought for a second as the team seemed to get into position. "First off, I'm going to say that it will be difficult for them, or anyone for that matter, to surpass Rave in raw damage. Secondly, it'll be tough to actually predict their coordination for the attacks as both Twin Dragon's are not competing this year."

"That is true." Chapati nodded. "They were the faces of the guild, it's sad that events had to transpire the way they did. And again, to all those watching, here is a picture of Sting Euclifffe. If you have seen him at all please contact us, we will be eagerly waiting for your voice. Thank you."

\----------

The team, Minerva, Yukino, Rufus, Orga, and Dobengal (because there are no other named members) made their way onto the field. They didn't waste any time in commencing the Combo.

Orga started things by quickly extended both arms before himself, his open palms facing, and fingers pointed towards the target. Sparks of black lightning generated between his hands, growing larger and larger, and gradually extending to the surrounding area with damaging strikes of energy. With his arms completely clad in black lightning, Orga fired a massive, concentrated beam of black lightning at the attack dummy which passed clean through it.

Dobengal rushed forward, taking extreme caution to not be hit by the beams of Orga's power. He quickly preformed his 'multiple strike' spell, which left a magic seal on the target each time he struck. 

Rufus placed one finger of his temple, immediately followed by a magic seal coated in undulating gold memory chains appearing behind him. Shooting Star projectiles skyrocketed, each splitting into two every second. Soon, the entire sky was laminated by light. 

As the sky grew gold, Orga's lightning blasted through the target, and Dobengal rushed forward, Minerva actived her spell. She quickly opened a portal in front of the Black Lightning, allowing it to enter and subsequently reappear to the right of the dummy, which blasted through. She opened another set, and another, and another, until four steady beams of powerful energy were rupturing the target. The first beam fired by Orga ran south to north, where it disappeared into a portal and exited heading northeast to southwest, where it, again, disappeared now emerging from east to west, followed by the final beam heading southeast northwest. 

Dobengal, who had steadily avoided the anticipated beams, was also busy slashing the dummy, only to be continuously warped by Minerva so he could strike as often as possible. The dummy was already littered with small magic seals, which would later create miniature explosions. 

Minerva also absorbed the countless projectiles from Rufus's Memory Make: Continuous Night of Falling Stars, which she immediately brought directly on top of the attack dummy, being cautious to warp Dobengal to safety. 

Finally, as all the attacks finished, and an impact shockwave brushed passed the excited audience, and a glowing light signaling the summon of a Celestial Spirit emerged behind the dummy. Yukino had summoned her massive bear, Polaris, who began to drink its Honey power up, increasing its strength ten fold. As soon as Polaris was full, it lifted its massive foot and violently stomped the attack target causing the multiple explosions from Dobengal's attack to go off. Their impressive combo was finished.

Mato, walked onto the field, and while his workers collected the damaged dummy, he drew another name at random.

\----------  
Fairy Tail A  
\----------

"Ah man, this is going to be sooooo cool!!!" Jason roared into the mic before Chaoati paced his hand over it, his ears hurting at the volume of Jason's voice.

"This one is relatively easy to predict. High damage potential, while mid to high coordination. Don't you think?" Chapati questioned.

"My thoughts exactly." Chapati and Yajima were finally meshing.

\----------

Juvia and Gray quickly linked hands and matched each others Magic Power creating a large and quickly freezing water arrow, accompanied by many icicles to appear above their heads. Their unison raid came to fruition, and the duo pushed forward, launching the Frozen Water's Arrow at blinding speeds towards the target at the center of the field. As the arrow impacted, followed by countless ice blades, a frosty shockwave expanded outward and powerfully made its way past the Magical Protection Barriers. As the shockwave passed, with blinding speeds, snow appeared on the ground and started to fall from the sky. It had made a mini winter for all of Crocus, and the attack dummy was left frozen solid.

Natsu, on the left of the attack dummy, entered Dragon Lightning mode and used Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar. Wendy, who was on the right, entered Dragon Force, and used her Sky Dragon's Roar. The two simultaneous attacks met on top of the attack target, causing a massive build up of energy in addition to dealing damage. 

As the buildup of energy manifested as an expanding ball of magical white light, growing due to the added power from Natsu and Wendy. Erza jumped skyward and requiped into her most powerful Armor. Nakagami. She immediately came crashing down, violently using Nakagami Starlight to shatter the buildup of energy and strike the target. The shock wave resounded outward, and as it settled down, their combo was finished.

\----------  
Lamia Scale  
\----------

"Mid to High Damage as well as Performance." Was all Yajima stated before backing himself up. "The guild values camaraderie which will more than likely sync up their attacks. They are already equipped with a Wizard Saint as well as a contestant for the opening left by God Serena, Lyon Vastia."

"Agreed, this will definitely be exciting!" Chapati retorted.

\----------

The cheerful team was led by Jura and Lyon who smiled at the crowd. Sherria and Sherry were behind the two, waving at the audience, while Yuka made his quiet way in their wake.

Yuka started the battle by sending countless damaging vibratory waves towards the target. As the waves impacted, the target was launched backwards and impacted by Shelia, who appeared beneath the target and struck its chin with Sky God's Heel Strike, sending the target skyward in a swirling column of powerful wind. 

As the dummy reached its peak, Lyon cast Ice Make: Titan's Feet, which sent the dummy rebounding downwards, back through the harsh winds, and towards a now glowing circle of light of the ground. However, before it could hit the ground, Sherry used her Rock Golem: Clap spell to smash the dummy between its two massive hands. As the stony hands were removed, the dummy was left suspended in the air due to the winds kicked up by Shelia. 

Finally, the magical circle on the ground reached its releasing point, and Jura activated his overwhelming Rumbling Mt. Fuji, fully engulfing the target in the devastating Earth Magic spell.

Their combo was finished, and only three teams were left.

\----------  
Mermaid Heel  
\---------- 

"What are your feelings on this, Chapati?" Yajima asked once again as he started to scribble words onto a paper.

"Another quiz, eh Yajima?" Chapati laughed. "I believe that while an intimidating and incredibly sexy guild, a majority of the members lack raw damage potential. I see them scoring relatively low on the damage while their ever present sorority mentality will yield them a good performance score. How was that answer, Yajima."

Yajima responded by smiling and holding up a piece of paper which read. Damage -Poor to Mid, Performance - Mid to High.

\----------

Arana and Milliana began by throwing their Thread Magic and Binding Magic at the dummy as this was the most they could do. 

Beth quickly grew corn stalks around the dummy, and as the corn bloomed, it exploded.

Risley decreased the gravity around Kagura so she could jump high and unleash the only attack on their team that would deal damage. As Kagura fell downward, she unsheathed Archenemy and thrush the blade into the dummy's head, releasing the same blindingly powerful attack that she used against Thorin. As the attack died down, their combo was finished. 

There were now only two left to go.

\----------  
Fairy Tail B  
\----------

"Ah, now here's a fan favorite!" Chapati yelled. "Think they'll do good?"

"I sure hope so, they are all powerhouses, so I'd expect to see high scores in the damage performance while expecting to see medium to high scores in the performance category."

"I'm so excited!!!!!" Jason could barely keep his excitement at bay.

\----------

The combo began by Freed pulling out his sword in a suave style. As he slashed forward, his body sideways and his left hand on his hip, red lines of magic runes encircled the attack target. The runes were scripted to allow attacks to enter the area of confinement, however, they could not escape. As the runes were complete, the other four wasted no time in combining their powers into two separate and simultaneous unison raids.

Gajeel entered his Iron Shadow Dragon mode and quickly released a Dragon's Roar at the target. Levy matched his power and used an attack that she had spent years developing. Solid Script: Ambigram Force. She overlapped her extended arms, her ring fingers facing downward, causing an intricately designed word to appear before her. The word was Force, and, if rotated, could be read upside down, an Ambigram. The Force mixed with Gajeel's Roar and the reaction was a massively expanded Dragon's Roar, with likely an overwhelming increase in power. 

At the same time, Laxus and Mira attempted a unison raid of their own. Although neither would admit to the other their feelings, it was clear that their level of trust would allow them to preform the advanced technique on their first try. Mira transformed into her Sitiri form and quickly formed a sphere of massive energy in her left hand, which began to him and swirl with power. Laxus did the same thing by creating a powerful ball of lightning in his right, and as soon as he felt the power match up, they extended their arms and fused the spheres. As the white sphere from Mira met the brilliant yellow of Laxus, they instantly fused becoming a creamy yellow with radiating sparks of electricity. As the magic started to pulse, they knew it was ready. They launched their Cosmic Lightning forward. 

Both Unison Raids reached the dummy at the same time, dealing a catastrophic amount of damage which wasn't allowed back outside of the runes. With no where to go, the magic began to spiral into a tornado before it ultimately died down. Their combo was complete.

There was only one team left to go, and they weren't about to be outdone by Rave.

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"Well this has got to be an interesting combo to watch." Chapati voiced. "A guild who is named after a children's story book. However, after seeing 5 defeat Kagura and 1 down Laxus in a second, are they really masquerading?" 

"That's a good question, Chapati." Yajima responded. "However, we will soon see what they are capable of."

"That's true, and it looks like they're starting. Let's watch!"

\----------

The combo started simply enough. Evangeline elevated her arm, thus elevating the dummy, and turned around, almost as if she was pitching a baseball. The dummy was sent hurdling towards Suberashi, who were all clustered together. Rather than another attack, Orenda blinked everyone, including the dummy and one camera to a vastly empty and remote location. The Magical Protectors lit up with the broadcast of the rest of Suberashi's onslaught.

Thorin stepped forward and slammed both his palms into the ground, greatly decreasing the weight of earth in front of him. Es then pointed toward the distant attack dummy, causing the stones loosened by Thorin's weight change to flock towards it. Soon, the dummy was suspended in the air, and massive chucks of earth were lifted up and magnetically pulled toward it. The build up of dislodged earth was so massive, that the dummy was trapped in the center of a newly formed mass, equipped with its own gravitational and magnetic pull. Es had, in mere seconds, formed a miniature planet.

The audience was once again in horror as the man made planet continued to grow, the pull of it causing winds to pick up and people to hold onto their seats. To the naked eye, the planet was now visible to the north, and even onlookers who weren't attending the grand magic games stopped in fear to question the development. 

The winds from the magnetic pull continued to dishevel people at a constantly growing rate, and as the mini-planet reached an impressive and absolutely intimidating size, Lucy used her attack. She dressed into Leo form and put all of her power into a Regulus Powered Precision Beam, which launched forward instantly piercing the heavenly body as well as the dummy at the center, and emerging out the other side. In an instant, the blast from Lucy caused the planet to shatter apart and begin to fall to the ground, the dummy still at the center of the chaos.

As if that wasn't enough, there was a part two to everyone's attacks.

The now re-dislodged stones that formed the planet began to glow violently as they fell. As Es magnetized the Target and the earth, he poured Anti-Mater magic into each pebble. As a dull blue light encased the stones, they erupted, each blast dealing as much devastation as Es' attack against Laxus. Only this time, there were thousands of individual rocks that composed the Lucy-destroyed mini-planet. The blasts caused the sky to illuminate blue across the globe and the audience back in Domus Flau went silent, finally believing that Suberashi wasn't a joke. 

The blue energy from the antimatter continued to expand outward and forcibly blew away all the clouds above and around the blast. And that's when blue met gold, creating an eerie magical sunset. To those that weren't distracted by the explosive force of Es' antimatter, flashing gold light that looked reminiscent of lightning could have been seen in the clouds from the sky above. However as the clouds parted from the concussive blast, part two to Lucy's attack could now be seen. 

Lucy had taken inspiration from Rufus's Night of Falling Stars and quickly invented her own. As the Regulus beam passed the core of the planet, she had forced it to split outward and reshape into countless and massive 'shooting stars,' which were now raining downward. As the stars fell, they mixed with the blue residue from the explosion, and if people weren't so afraid, they'd probably think it was beautiful. The stars soon littered the field where the attack target was, causing a series of explosions, even furthering the already cataclysmic damage to the terrain. The attack was seemingly over, that is, until people everywhere observing looked up.

An asteroid was now entering earth's atmosphere, encompassing the last of both Orenda's and Thorin's attack. When Orenda had teleported everyone, she had also teleported a rogue asteroid right above the gravitational pull of Earth. And as Throin activated his Weight Change, he also made the asteroid weigh more, slightly pulling it into gravitational range. People began to scream as the asteroid collided with earth, the aftermath surely putting Etherion to shame. 

However, the shockwave, that would certainly destroy the world was cut short as the final part to Evangeline's attack came to fruition. At the start of the match, when she pulled the dummy closer, she also pulled a copious amount of water from the ocean forwards, which was now manifested as a Super Tsunami which swept past and engulfed the aftermath from the asteroid. 

Suberashi's combo was finished. 

\----------

"..." Chapati looked in disbelief at the cataclysm that had just taken place.

"..." Yajima couldn't even articulate a single word after seeing their combo.

\----------

"......" Erza looked fiercely towards the former location of the asteroid, her mouth slightly parted in awe as he hair was fluttering in the now dying winds.

"....." Gray held only Juvia from the side as they looked in fear towards the still blue/yellow residue of the damaged sky.

"....." Natsu couldn't even form a thought.

"....." Wendy clasped a hand over her gaping mouth, utterly astounded at the display of events.

\----------  
Ranking Reveal  
\----------

"Alright, is everyone ready to see the rankings!?" Mato yelled as the teams once again entered the arena causing the audience to burst into cheers. Conversations erupted between team members, each one regarding what they thought of another team, or how they think they did comparatively to other. They were finally silenced as Mato did a little dance and pointed towards the screen, their eyes wandering in anticipation. "Without further ado, here are the scores!"

1st Place: Rave  
2nd Place: Sabertooth  
3rd Place: Fairy Tail Team B  
4th Place: Lamia Scale  
4th Place: Blue Pegasus  
6th Place: Mermaid Heel  
7th Place: Fairy Tail Team A  
8th Place: Suberashi

Fairy Tail Team A was stunned at their rank, and everyone else was questioning how Suberashi had gotten last. Luckily Mato had answers. 

"Aim sure you're all wondering the breakdown of the grading. Let's go in order of the rankings.

Rave had astounding teamwork, making each attack flow into the next and even using certain attacks to position other teammates. Their presentation was graded at 50. Their damage was also brilliant, focusing the power of two Etherion blasts onto a single target, well, that yielded them a score of 50 of the damage side too. Rave received 100/100 available points, securing them a first place position.

Sabertooth was also great. Their coordination was top notch while their damage was also superb. However, compared to Rave, their damage was second earning them a secondary score. Their Performance was graded at 50 while their Damage was scored at 45, earning them a total score of 95/100 points possible.

Fairy Tail Team B was excellent at dealing damage, and their unison raids were extraordinarily impressive. However, the event was a single combined strike, and while brilliant, didn't quite fit the ideas of a combo. Their Damage was graded at 45, while their Performance was graded at 40, which isn't too shabby. Their total score was 85/100.

Lamia Scale also delivered quite well on the damage side of the spectrum. Being hit by a Wizard Saint isn't something I'd ever want to experience. Their damage was graded at 40 while their Performance was given the same score, earning them a total of 80 out of 100 points.

Blue Pegasus held its own and even managed to tie with Lamia Scale. Their combo was excellent, and their damage spiked as Hibiki used Action Replay. However, their attacks didn't seem to lead into one another, rather they attacked and attacked again, and Jenny seemed largely out of place. The combo was only held together by Hibiki. Their damage was also ranked at 45 while their Performance was given a 35, also bringing their total to 80.

Mermaid Heel was, sadly, expected to do on the lower side of the damage scale while their teamwork was fated to be in the high range. However, both were mid by the end. The only damage that was greatly inflicted was by Kagura, while the other members were a distraction at best. Their damage was given a score of 25. Their performance on the other hand was slightly disappointing. While being expected to do well on this aspect, their attacks just didn't seem to line up, and part of that stems from the diversity of their magics, which would likely be hard to pair together. Their coordination was given a score of 35, earning them a total of 60/100 points. 

Fairy Tail Team A was an interesting case. For some reason their damage was surprisingly low compared to the other teams. They looked like powerful attacks, even frosting over the city from their unison raid, so why they did the least damage of any team remains a mystery. Their Teamwork however, was spot on. One attack led into the next and was finished by an astoundingly powerful build up and release of magical energy. Their damage was given a meager 10 points and their performance was given a 40, bringing their total to only 50/100.

And then there's Suberashi. While they easily had the hugest damage output, destroying a grand total of 3% of our planet, and also had the highest performance score, they were actually disqualified. The rules stated that everything must be done while inside the arena, they however, teleported elsewhere. Better luck next time."

\----------

"What the hell?!" Natsu yelled in outrage, there was no way that they did that little damage. If Sabertooth got 45, then they should have at least done 50! Soon the other members all be an to complain just as much as Natsu, questioning what the hell went wrong. Gray accused Natsu, and Natsu accused Gray, but then they finally noticed the uncharacteristically quiet Erza who was mashing her fingers together.

"Erza..." Wendy asked calmly. "You know what happened, don't you?"

"Well..." Erza thought for a moment. "Nakagami starlight is so powerful it can even cut through Space and Time... There's a high chance that when I struck the dummy, it somehow reverted back through time, to a point where it had accumulated less damage... How could I have been so careless!? Out of 762 possible predicted scenarios, this event was only number 52 on my list!" She had actually come up with many, many possible scenarios, just as she had promised. "I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's no big deal, we will just have to make up the points in the battle round." Natsu beamed.

"You're right, thank you." Erza wiped a single tear from her cheek.

\----------

".......we should have listened to the rules more clearly." Thorin stated.

"Hm. You think?" Lucy asked sarcastically, mildly upset that they garnered 0 points this round.

"We will have better luck in the battle rounds." Evangeline said cheerfully. "Besides, it wasn't a total loss."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked

Evangeline laughed. "Now everyone will take us seriously. Watch, watch! See those guys over there from Lamia Scale, they're looking at us. Just turn your body toward them and flare your magic power. It'll be funny!" 

Lucy looked towards Lamia Scale where Lyon and Yuka were looking at Suberashi and likely also talking about them. Lucy smiled at the idea and turned her cloaked body towards them. Their eyes immediately widened and they turned around to hide their looks. Lucy then released her magic aura briefly and both Lyon and Yuka cowarded further away from the direction she was in. She too laughed.

\----------

"That laugh..." Natsu asked as his ears perked towards the girl wearing a black cloak, her face fully shaded. The magic power she just real eased didn't feel like her, but the laugh... It had to be. "Lucy?"

Only, the words fell of deaf ears, as one of the other cloaked figures called out to '4.' 

"I'm teleporting us back now." Natsu heard the woman with an embroidered 2 say. 

"I'd rather walk back, if you don't mind. I'm kinda disappointed at the turn of events. I'll see you back there, okay?" Natsu heard no response, instead he simply saw four of the five figures disappear, leaving one of them to stalk out of the area a, her body betraying their feelings as ones of defeat. Natsu went to follow the cloaked girl before a forceful hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Don't." The redhead behind Natsu instructed. "Remember what we said? And even more, remember what we just saw? She was the one who sent the beam through the planet and brought down the golden meteor storm. If that's not Lucy and she feels threatened, then you're done."

"But I heard her laugh. It was her!" Natsu defended as he pulled free.

"You might have hallucinated the sound, you do miss her after all. Besides that magic we saw isn't Lucy's, or at least, not to our knowledge. That magic power is Spriggan 12 level, at the minimum, and she's likely holding back. Repose yourself and think this over. There is plenty of time to figure out if it's her or not." Natsu couldn't help but agree.

\----------

Lucy spent the remainder of walk sulking and disappointed at their loss. Despite how much they could do as a team, one simple rule prevented them from getting the points. Eventually she decided that there was only one thing that would make her feel better and melt away her troubles. A nice hot bath.

As she arrived back in her hotel room, she determined that she had a good two hours before the battle rounds started. And as Orenda could teleport them there in an instant, that meant that she could enjoy the bath for a large portion of that duration. 

Lucy undid her cloak and got out of her dress, the one her dad gave to her. Although beautiful and stylish, the magically self repairing aspect made it a valuable fighting outfit. She folded it and placed it over a chair. She brought her hands up behind her head in order to undo her pony tail, but her eyes snapped open as her senses picked up an intruder. Someone was in the bathroom.

Before, Lucy would have been afraid, but now she would just confront the intruder. She slowly opened the wooden door, causing a fair bit of relaxing steam to seep into the room around her. With a heft pull the door sprang open, and she was surprised at what she saw.

"Ah, Lucy, I was wondering when you were going to get here." The green haired figure in the tub addressed. "Come, join me." The uninvited guest invited. 

"I thought I'd never see you again!" Lucy's face broke into a smile as she seemed to comply. "How have you been, Brandish?"

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Time in Between  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone, as promised, here is the next chapter.


	40. The Time in Between

\----------  
Fairy Tail's Inn  
\----------

"You really, actually, and truly calculated over seven hundred possibilities of what possible situations for the last event?" Gray asked Erza once more, who currently sat at the counter, slowly dipping her fork into the cream frosting of her new favors dessert, strawberry cheesecake. Although, really strawberry anything was the warrior's favorite...

"As I've answered before, Gray." She took another bite from her fork. "Yes. I did. Why? Is it really so hard to believe?" She posed the question to him while finishing off her slice and waving Mira over for another.

Gray thought for a moment. Was it really that hard to believe coming from someone who once annihilated a team of knights just because they messed up her 'second attempt at a first picnic.' To this day, he had no doubt that Erza creepily remembered the exact details of the men's faces who ruined the situation for her. So, no. Gray decided. Hypothesizing over 700 theoretical options for the event was NOT the weirdest thing he had seen or heard about Erza doing. He watched as Mira handed her another plate, adorned with a generous slice of the dessert.

"Geez, Erza. How many of those things are you going to eat?" He quipped before her for abruptly slammed into her plate, causing a ruckus of culinary noises. When he looked back at her, she was fully facing him, detest on her features.

"I will eat as many as I damn well please, if you don't mind." She seemed to calm down before turning back to the counter and lifting her fork, garnishing it with yet another bite. "We all have our habits, Gray. Speaking of which, why don't you put your cloths back on." 

Gray quickly looked at his shoulder, but soon noticed that he was, in fact, wearing a shirt. "Well done, if that was a 'made you look' joke, totally not juvenile at all." He scoffed as he too, turned to face the counter, resting both elbows on it and placing his head in his hands.

"Look down more. And may I say I can see why Juvia likes you so much." She just took another bite of the cheesecake.

Gray looked down and quickly realized the problem. His pants were off. And what's worse, his underwear were gone too. And what's worst, Erza commented on his privates. He was mortified. He quickly placed his hands over his genitals, trying his best to let people see him while he was dressed like Winnie the Pooh. He cursed under his breath and began a frantic search for his cloths. He would never find them.

Erza smiled as he waddled around in search. In actuality, Erza, upset at the comment made by Gray, requiped a black wing sword behind her and used its long range and invisible cutting ability to discreetly shred Gray's cloths to pieces. Never mess with the Titania. She took another bite of cheesecake.

\----------  
Lucy's Bathroom  
\----------

Seeing Brandish Mu was not something Lucy Heartfilia had expected to see. Seeing her, once more, in her tub was another thing she would never even contemplate. And actually seeing Brandish wearing an appropriate swimsuit was something even more unfathomable. As the two greeted, and Brandish invited Lucy to join her. Lucy's decision wavered for a brief second, before she decided to comply. They hadn't seen each other in close to three years, and if this wasn't a friendly visit, Lucy would rather not make her green haired acquaintance upset.

Brandish's eyes widened ever so slightly as she felt the increase of Lucy's power while she embodied her Aquarius Form to garner herself with a swimsuit. And as Brandish noticed the Aquarius insignia of her Celestial Spirit friend, she looked away and towards the intricately tiled wall. Now, Lucy and Brandish were sitting in much the same position as they had years earlier. Silence hung heavily in the air as neither female knew who should actually start the conversation they were sure to have. Lucy's new confidence decided to break the silence.

"Why are you here, Brandish?" Lucy looked at the green haired woman who was still gazing at the wall. She didn't look at Lucy before responding.

"To see you, actually." She said softly, a brief silence ensuing before she spoke once more. "That's the simple answer, anyways."

"Me?" Lucy clarified, what need could an ex Spriggan 12 have with her, personal or business. "Why?"

"Well, that's the long answer." Was all Brandish answered, finally turning her head to wards Lucy, however it still hung low, not fully making eye contact. Lucy didn't quite know what to say or ask. There was clearly something on the girl's mind.

"What have you been doing over the years, Brandish!? Where have you been!?" Lucy snapped causing Brandish to look up. This was the last person tied in some way to her family, the closeness of their mothers had made them practically cousins. She had wanted desperately to befriend the girl in the same way she had wanted to befriend Michelle Lobster. Sadly, she too, disappeared. She never got the chance to be close with either of them. "After the war, you disappeared! I tried to find you, but I couldn't."

"Someone had to fix everything Alvarez broke." She responded. Lucy wasn't satisfied with the answer, she pushed more.

"So that's where you were? Alvarez? I checked there and people said they hadn't seen you since the war." 

"It's a longer story than that." Brandish once more stated.

"Well, we have time, don't we?" Lucy smiled at her, sincerely. "Please, tell me everything."

"Very well, I owe this to you." Brandish thought for a moment, deciding on a point in which to start. "Well, I was born on---"

"You don't have to start that far back!" Lucy interrupted before she calmed herself. Brandish nodded. Lucy leaned slightly forward, paying close attention to the story that was about to unfold. She even made sure to do absolutely nothing, so the author would have to describe Lucy's actions as Brandish told her story.

"It all started when my mother died. I remember feeling helpless, powerless. My mother, having been a humble maid, couldn't afford a lavish house, nor could she afford one in a strictly safe environment. People, non mages, tended to stay away while she was alive. They were probably afraid of facing her magic. She had the town pacified and living in peace. Goodness could spread while the darkness hid. However, when news of her passing reached the ears of those with ill intentions, that's when raids started. Robberies transpired, vandalism took place, and multiple corrupt things spread across our little part of town. Her death marked the absence of light, and soon darkness possessed the small town I lived in. I was afraid and there were countless times I hid in the attic and held onto a picture of my mother, praying and hoping that the bad people wouldn't find me, or that, somehow, I would be able to escape. Prayers fell on deaf ears and I realized that hope was a pointless emotion. If you wanted something done, you couldn't sit back and hope. You had to take action. So I began to practice my magic.

I never used my magic while my mother was alive. Her Celestial Spirit Magic was a beautiful and comforting magic. A magic that could bring friends into existence. It's quite amazing when you think about it. By comparison, my magic seemed silly and trivial. However, in her absence, it was my only hope of survival. It began while I found myself starving. It was difficult enough to find something to eat, and even more challenging to make it last. I learned to increase the size of small bits of food. I could make a crumb of bread into a few sustainable bites, and it wasn't long before I could recreate a whole loaf. My magic continued to prove most useful in my survival, and soon I found that I could shrink thinks. During one raid, one in which I would have surely died, I managed to shrink myself down to the size of a doll and hide in a place inaccessible by the intruders. From growing food to shrinking myself, my magic developed further, I realized it not only had the properties to change the size of an object, but also to change its shape, as well. I could bend the shape of walls and hide myself in plain sight, I could alter the shape of the floor and block attacks from raiders who meant me harm. And that's when I realized what magic was, and after learning about the Spriggan 10, my ideas were confirmed. Magic was protection, and soon enough, the Spriggan 10 became my heroes.

The pain from my mother's death never left my soul, and I remember thinking that if only I was more powerful, then I could have protected her. And then, maybe, just maybe, she might still be alive. My conviction was that I could use my magic to protect those I cherish and never go through the same heartache again. However, my magic, while great for self sustenance, had a long way to go before I was ready to protect anyone. So I began to practice...relentlessly. And after some time, I was able do what I wanted. Protect those around me. Sadly, around that time is when I received more details regarding my mother's death. That was when I found out that the person responsible for her death was Layla Heartfilia. And that's when my convictions of protection switched to ones of revenge.

I was only 15 at the time. I found out that Layla had died, perished after what I now know was a selfless act in hopes to save the world. I knew then that there was no way to avenge my mother, and that her retribution would be in vain. I could at least honor her memory. The light that she created in our town was long gone, and while it could never truly be the same as it was, I could at least enforce peace. I went to war with my own home. The town, Arcadia, was about the size of Magnolia, but when I challenged the cities criminals to a duel, them vs me, a majority of the town fled. I like to think that the ones that stayed were the horrible people that earth didn't need while the ones that left were the innocent ones. As the battle started, the enemies laughed and teased at me. That didn't last long. By this point my magic was well trained, and with a wave of my hand, it was over. The town was shrunk down to the size of a fly, them included. I don't know what happened to them, I assume nothing good. It was then that I left and never came back. And it was then that I met Emperor Spriggan.

He said he could feel my growing magic power, and based on the magic I felt inside him, I knew he was telling the truth. He told me about a group of people, his personal guard, the ten strongest mages on the continent. Of course, I already knew about them, every kid on Alakitasia knew the Spriggan 10. They were legends, and they were my idols. I couldn't believe it when he offered me a position as number 11. He said he could feel the need for protection and belonging in my heart, and that being a part of his 'family' was the solution. They could offer me both. His words seemed like candy, and I couldn't wait to meet the Spriggans. 

By the time I was 18, God Serena had joined our group and I was surrounded by idiots. If they weren't actually stupid, their power made them vain, and it took great will power to even acknowledge them sometimes. While I preferred to sort things out with logic, they insisted on violence. Even when our leader told them not to, a group branched off and attempted a war against you. They even tried to persuade me to join, after all, I didn't get my epithet, Country Demolisher, for nothing. Serena was egocentric, Dimaria was a bitch, Nineheart was immature, Wahl was pompous, Ajeel was conceited, and the rest were just as bad in some regard. However, despite their flaws, they did do exactly what Zeref had promised. They gave me a sense of protection, and somehow filled my loneliness. Oddly enough, it felt like home there. So that's why I went to war when the emperor decided to invade Ishgar. However, a certain blonde haired girl got in the way.

I knew you looked familiar. You are the spitting image of your mother after all, and when I saw you I knew I needed to figure out who you were. When I found out you were Layla's daughter, though, and all my suppressed feelings of revenge surfaced. I decided that since Layla took my mother, I would take her daughter. Only something happened. Aquarius arrived to save you and showed us images of what actually transpired between our mothers. Layla didn't kill Grami. They cared for each other, they were best friends, and that's all they wanted for us too."

"Wow..." Lucy didn't even know where to start.

"Darn, did I mess up?" Brandish suddenly changed from serious and somber to mildly disappointed. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at this."

"Good at what?" Lucy questioned, not knowing what the woman across from her wanted.

"This." Brandish looked once again towards the all to interesting tiled wall. "Bonding."

"Bonding!?" Lucy yelled. "That means that you actually want to connect with me!" Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well that's a part to becoming friends isn't it?" Brandish quipped back, once again stunning Lucy.

"You want to be friends!?" Lucy found her composure. "Then why didn't you just say so. I offered it to you back then, remember? You declined." 

"Ah, I see." Brandish said disappointedly. Lucy just smiled, causing Brandish to look up I'm confusion.

"I never said the offer went away." Brandish's lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. "And you're a good story teller, by the way."

"Thanks." 

"But can I ask..." Lucy hesitated for a second. "...why now?"

Brandish seemed to whine at the question, contemplating, once more, how to articulate her answer. She finally settled on something simple that she would likely expand on later. "Because you went missing."

"What?"

"To be honest, you were always on the back of my mind. After mom passed away, I was left alone with no family ties. However, once the circumstances regarding my mother's death came to light, I realized that while I had no blood relatives, you were actually the closest thing I had to family. The closeness our mothers shared was true friendship, they were nakama, and that makes you almost like a cousin. I know we didn't get along right away, but I was still trying to process everything I had just learned. I knew I would get around to you eventually, but there were other things to do in the meantime."

Lucy just smiled, wanting her to continue telling her story. It was interesting after all. "So, what were those 'other things' you mentioned? Was that what you meant by fixing the problems Alvarez left behind?"

"Well, that's another lengthy story. But yes, basically. And it not only ties in to why I needed to find you, but it also serves as a warning... A dire, dire warning..." Brandish looked down in almost reverence, worried.

"What is it? Tell me." If there was something troubling even Brandish, nothing good could be coming.

\----------  
Fairy Tail's Inn  
\----------

Wendy watched as her guild mates went about doing their typical things. Gray frantically wandered around in search of his cloths, Makarov had a quiet yet watchful eye on everyone, Erza continued to more than flirt with diabetes and Mira kept everyone well fed. The others were in a state of bickering and rough housing, most likely trying to cause a fight to prove who was stronger. People watching had become the Sky Dragon Slayer's favorite hobby. However, despite the seemingly normal behavior displayed, there was just something off about the atmosphere. She didn't wonder what it could possibly be, as she already knew. It was Natsu.

Natsu was good at faking his normal attitude, but it was times like this where Wendy could see his aching heart. There were many more obvious times, but ones like this really spoke volumes as a testament to his feelings. Rather than displaying his obnoxious attitude, Natsu was quietly perched outside the building on it's balcony. He was facing towards the beautiful city, away from his friends. Nevertheless, Wendy's own heart constricted as her dragon hearing picked up private words coming from her friends mouth.

"Where are you, Luce?" There was a brief pause and what was likely a sniffle. "Come back to us, to me...please."

\----------  
Lucy's Bathroom  
\----------

"After the war, I left, as you know. I returned back to Alvarez and slowly began to eliminate the subordinates of Zeref and the subordinates of the remaining Spriggan 12. Don't worry, I didn't kill them. They are the size of gnats and are all locked away in a prison the size of a shoe box. However, that still left the threat of the remaining Spriggan 12, whose immense power doesn't really require the use of subordinates. I went toe-to-toe with a few of them, but as their magic power was roughly equal to mine, they couldn't be instantly shrunk. Ultimately the battles ended in draws, and the remaining Spriggans abandoned Alvarez rather than continuing their plan to usurp the title of Emperor Spriggan. And that is when I heard about the apparent disappearance of someone who should be dead.

God Serena was praised as the most powerful Mage on Ishgar due to his overwhelmingly powerful Dragon Lacrima implants. His powers were kept hidden from the population for the very reason that follows. When news that he had perished spread, I knew people would attempt to find his body, remove the lacrima, and attain the power for themselves. Which is stupid, because having that many lacrima inside you, should kill you. I guess that's why they call him the 'man who was loved by the Dragon God.' I quickly enlisted the help of the greatest trackers in Alvarez to aid me in retrieving his body. 

We ultimately failed. When we arrived at where his body should be, we found nothing. Someone had already beaten us to the punch. Luckily, many of my trackers specialized in different forms of tracking, namely tracking something that's alive, and others tracking something that's dead. Something strange happened. The death trackers stated that he was not dead, while the life trackers informed me that he wasn't alive. Instead, he simply no longer existed. He was untraceable. This is where the threat begins. 

I began to pay close attention to detailed reports, in hopes of finding someone who was using Serena's magic. If they had his magic, they likely had him. I never found him, but I did find something interesting. Mages across the world with strong and rare abilities were suddenly disappearing. Not a large amount, mind you, but ample enough to where I noticed the trend. I reenlisted my trackers to help me find the missing mages, but once again, they all turned up empty handed. Every missing Mage was neither dead, nor alive, nor something in between. They were just gone. Two more disappearances took place, this time in Ishgar. Sting Eucliffe and Lucy Heartfilia had also disappeared. That's when I knew I had to find you at all costs, I wasn't going to lose the closest thing I had to family. The trackers once again used their abilities, but unfortunately Sting Eucliffe was left with the same status as the rest of the missing persons. Relief flooded my ears when a tracker informed me that you were, in fact, alive. . I was happy that you were okay, and I knew I had to see you and repair our relationship as soon as possible. So, I tracked you here."

Lucy smiled that Brandish went to all this trouble to just see if Lucy was okay, however, she frowned when she let the rest of the information sink into her. "So there's someone who is abducting unique mages... That's horrible..."

"Yes. Your magic is rare, extraordinarily so, and it was easy for me to think you had been thrown into the mix..."

"Do you have any ideas as to who or what's causing this?"

"No, all we know is that it uses the epithet: The Collector."

\----------  
Fairy Tail's Inn  
\----------

"Master." Mira quietly got his attention.

"What is it, dear?" He spoke, too, calmly, realizing that her hushed volume was likely hushed for a reason.

"Well, watching people has always been my hobby, and now it's Wendy's too." Said girl's ears perked as she detected her name amidst the guild's chatter. "Anyway, I've been watching her watch Natsu, and his state is, well, sadly unsettling. I know he gravely misses Lucy, and since Thorin's here, I thought maybe she might be too--"

"I'm not allowing you to go and confront those people." He interrupted her, knowing that the individual score of their powers outweighed the combined powers of multiple guilds . "If Lucy happens to be one of them, then let her approach us on her own time. You all have gone and branched off and left for periods of time to train. We have not chased after anyone, and I see no reason why we shouldn't give her the same treatment."

"That was beautiful, Master." She shook her head. "But I was going to ask when Gildarts is due back. He was tracking Lucy, after all. Some type of confirmation is really all it would take to cheer Natsu back up." 

"Ah, I see. Well the last detailed report I got from him was over two weeks ago, when he sent Pulse back. He stated that he had found her and he was headed back to give the report in person. He was supposed to have already been here, but I'm sure he hot caught up doing something, or someone. He should be here any day now, that is, if his unreliable ass actually gets back." Mira just hoped the master was right.

\----------  
Pergrand Kimgdom  
\----------

"Zaeoa." A stern male voice echoed through the throne room that the female was currently at the head of. The male released a sigh of disgust as he noticed an almost naked blonde male, young, touching Zaoeoa in...places.

"Ah, Zancoudo. What a surprise. Why haven't you mobilized yet? Ahhh..." She sighed as Sting licked from the base of her neck up to her ear, causing Zancoudo to stiffen in discomfort.

Zancoudo was a tall and muscular man in his early to mid thirties. He had tanned skin and sported a trimmed beard. His massive frame was adorned in intricate magic nullifying armor, and his right hip was graced with a hefty and detailed grimoire, while his left was clad in a saber. This man was part of the Tertaforce, occupying the position as General. Under his command was an army of millions, an army that Zaeoa believed should have already been heading towards Fiore.

"You don't tell me or my troupes what to do. And this constant display of debauchery that you present is sickening." She only smiled at his angered tone.

"And likewise, you don't tell me or my subordinates what to do." She then forced sting on top of her, making him grind into her in an arousing fashion. Zaracoudo was sick.

"They're hardly your subordinates. Call them by what they really are. You're slaves." He spat at her. "My troupes have already departed." He turned and began to exit the room.

Midway to the exit however, he stopped and turned back around to the atrocious female. "And next time there is a disagreement between us, I will kill you."

"Haha, we both know you couldn't. My forces are too strong, you wouldn't even get into a ten mile radius without them tearing you limb from limb." She began to laugh even harder, she was crazy.

"Fine then, I'll just tell Prudence." Zaeoa immediately stopped laughing. "After all, what would you do if all your slaves were striped from you?" 

Zaeoa's eyes narrowed at his threat before smiling and responding to his rhetorical question. "Well, if all my slaves were to suddenly disappear, I guess I'd have to collect more."

\----------  
The next update will include a whopping 2 chapters!!  
Next Chapter: Day 2 Battle (Milliana Vs Eve)  
Next Chapter: Day 2 Battle (Wendy vs Jura)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, things are picking up and we are swiftly approaching the climactic battle of this arc. I hope you all enjoyed!


	41. Day 2: Battle (Millianna vs Eve)

\----------  
Lucy's Bathroom  
\----------

Lucy and Brandish continued to chat, whoever, after the serious note regarding a new foe, the Collector, the mood seemed to shift into a lighter one. Lucy explained her background and upbringing to Brandish, who told her stories of her's. Brandish asked about Lucy's disappearance which she told was in relation with her training. In addition to Suberashi, Lucy even told her about Natsu. All in all, the two girls were bonding quickly and their conversation only faltered when a loud and obnoxious voice boomed over the lacrima-intercom.

"If everyone could make their way to the arena, the Day 2 battle rounds will finally commence!"

Lucy immediately began to glow a blue that wasn't her own power. Orenda was attempting to teleport her to the stadium. Lucy didn't yet want to say goodbye to Brandish, who looked at her quizzically, wondering why the light was enveloping her. "My team mate, Orenda is trying to teleport me to the arena. Would you like to come?" Lucy smiled and extended her arm. Brandish smiled back and accepted her grip, which caused the light to leak up her arm and envelop her too. In an instant, the two were with the other Suberashi members. Who seemed surprised at the sudden appearance of the new female.

"Whoa!" Happy flew towards Lucy and positioned himself in between her and Brandish. "Are you okay, Lucy! I'll protect you!" 

"No, Happy." She told the exceed as she grabbed him out of the air. "Brandish is a friend now, not an enemy."

"And besides, I would have thought you'd be delighted to see me after I saved your pink haired friend's life." She recollected.

"Oh, right..." Happy looked down in sadness. "Sorry."

"Lucy!" Es boomed angrily at her. "Who is this girl, and why is she here!?" He stalked forward before he stopped, fear attempting to crawl through his body. As he sensed her magic power, Es knew the green haired woman wasn't meant to be trifled with.

"She's my friend." Lucy, like Happy, positioned herself in between Es and Brandish. "And she's staying."

"Well, if that's your attitude about it..." Thorin entered the conversation. He brushed past Es, placing a calm hand on his shoulder, secretly locking down his weight before extending his hand in greeting. "My name is Thorin, nice to meet you."

"Ah, the God of Weight." She acknowledged as she accepted his hand causing him to look at her in question. 

"Lucy told you, did she?" 

"I told you she was a blabber mouth." Orenda added playfully before too, greeting Brandish, followed suite by Evangeline.

"What's with her power though?" Evangeline broke in. "You're crazy powerful if I'm reading you right." 

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Let's ask the other questions first." Es interrupted Brandish's answer. "More importantly, why are you two in your swimsuits?" He added a wink.

"We were in the bath when Orenda teleported us here, you perv!" Lucy snapped before she coated herself in a low blue light and shattered it, dissipating the tattoo and returning her to her normal cloths. "Orenda?" She asked; the woman knew exactly what to do. Orenda arced her magic towards Brandish, and as the white electricity struck, a creaking door sound resounded and Brandish was left garnished in her usual attire.

"Thanks---" Brandish began before the loudspeaker went off again.

"Alight, now that all the teams are present, we will randomly determine the first battle. Now, roll!" The two rectangular screens flipped through countless mages across multiple teams. As the first panel died down, it stopped on none other than Mililana. The members of Mermaid Heel began to cheer, as did those of Blue Pegasus when the second wheel landed on Eve.

The two contenders made their way to the center of the arena.

\----------

"This match is going to be a spectacular battle." Chapati urged the audience to cheer more.

"Quite." Yajima supported. "It's relatively evenly matched, both being roughly the same position within their respective guilds. It's a tough one to determine."

"Haven't they all been that way?" Chapati asked rhetorically and both began laughing. "Anyways, what's your take on this?"

"On one hand, Eve has the ability to overwhelm his opponents with snow while all Millianna needs to do is land one constricting attack which reduces her opponents magic to 0." 

"So the question becomes: can Millianna land an attack before she is engulfed by wintery whiteness?" 

"Exactly. And let's also not forget that this is essentially a rematch. During yesterday's battle rounds, Blue Pegasus managed to wipe the floor with Mermaid Heel. Will Millianna avenge her team?"

\----------

"Hey, Baby." Eve cooed as they both reached the proper fighting distance. Millianna just sighed in disgust. 

"Fight!" Mato voiced, however neither moved. 

"Why don't you just forfeit? It'd save your team some embarrassment, and you can instead spend the extra time with me." He struck a pose, Millianna wasn't impressed. 

"I think I'll pass." She dismissed. With Kagura's injuries and well being weighing heavily on the mind's of the team, it was definitely an easy with for Blue Pegasus yesterday. However, Kagura was now, somehow, miraculously healed, and the distraction that helped the womanizers yesterday, wouldn't be present during this match. Needless to say, Millianna also had a plan. A plan which involved a new distraction. Her lips twitched in anticipation for what was about to happen. "Besides, I have a feeling you'll be loosing this match pretty quickly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" And that's when Millianna executed her plan, sunning not only Eve, but the entirety of the audience as well as everyone watching.

Millianna had flashed her breasts. 

"Uh...Uh..." Eve couldn't respond, let alone dodge the rope that was launched his direction. It immediately bonded itself around him, constricting his movements, and swiftly depleting his energy. The match was over.

\----------

"Uh... Well that's one way to win..." Chapati admitted while trying to hide his blush as well as his nosebleed.

"I'll say." Yajima agreed, also being in a similar situation.

Jason just nodded.

\----------

"Is it over now?" Wendy asked as she tried to remove Carla's paws from her face, who shielded Wendy's vision from the display.

"How crude." The exceed condescended.

"Yes, however that was a genius tactic." Erza admitted, giving serious though into using it the next time she was in a pinch. 

"You weren't looking, were you Gray!?" Juvia yelled as she noticed the punk tint on her boyfriends cheeks. 

"I...uh...no!" Gray defended.

"Uh huh. First you marry Natsu then you check out another woman's cleavage... I don't know what to do with you." She admitted before she continued in a whisper. "Maybe Juvia will have to spank you." The playful thought crossed her mind.

"What was that?" 

"Nothing."

\----------

"Guys?" Jenny tried to snap the remaining members of Blue Pegasus out of their hypnotized trance to no avail. "Well, they certainly haven't changed."

\----------

"I can't believe she did that!" Beth cried.

"Seriously, has she no pride as a woman?" Arana also was outraged by the display. "Falling so low as to do that...

"I, actually, believe she has much pride." Kagura interrupted. "She used her womanhood to secure victory. I see nothing wrong with that."

\----------

"Well, uh I guess Mermaid Heel gets 10 points." Mato deduced. "Anywho, let's move onto the next battle." The screen began to once again spin through the numerous possible faces. The audience watched in anticipation. Finally the first wheel began to slow to a halt, revealing a young blue haired woman with a fairy insignia at the bottom right.

"Contestant number one is Wendy Marvell!" The second wheel continued to scroll before it, too, ultimately began to slow. The result was something no one had expected, a bald man with a long and pointed beard, hands pressed together, with a green right facing mermaid at the bottom. "And it looks like Wizard Saint: Jura Neekis is her contender. If both participants could make their way to the center of the field, we will commence the annihilation, er, battle! My bad..." 

\----------

"Oh, gods." Juvia clasped her hand over her mouth in disbelief...

"That's totally unfair!" Natsu protested before turning towards his fellow dragon slayer. However, she was already gone. "Where'd Wendy go!?"

"To the battlefield, look." Erza pointed towards said girl as she carefully entered the arena. This wasn't good.

\---------

Next Chapter:  
Day 2: Battle (Wendy vs Jura)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of a 2 part update! Enjoy!


	42. Day 2: Battle (Wendy vs Jura)

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

Wendy slowly made her way towards the starting point, fear rampant in her body. She was about to go toe-to-toe with her former guild member and one of the top 4 Wizard Saints. This was insanity, but she knew how much this meant to Natsu, and for him, she would do anything. She would even face Jura.

"Wendy!" Most the Fairy Tail guild members in the audience called after her causing her to turn and look at them. Natsu spoke first.

"Seriously, Wendy! It's not worth it!" Natsu pleaded, knowing full well the imminent outcome of this match. "Just forfeit! We can make up the points later!" He cared deeply for her, almost as a younger sister, he couldn't live with himself if she got hurt. "Please!" He begged once more. Wendy just turned back around and continued to head towards the starting point, where Jura was already patiently waiting.

"What do you think you're doing, child!" Carla scolded just as loudly, urgency in her voice. "Listen to Natsu and retreat!!" 

Wendy finally replied in a normal voice, only loud enough for Jura to make out whispers, but loud enough for Natsu to hear her well. "Don't worry, Natsu. The girls in your life are a lot stronger than you give them credit for. Please don't interfere." Natsu choked at her words, he knew she was doing this because of Lucy for him, it was almost heartbreaking. "We are already down in points, and I doubt 7th place is going to impress Lucy. If there's even the slightest chance I'll win, then I'll take it!" She yelled the last sentence, causing Jura to smile. She reached the starting point, 15 meters from Jura.

"Well, if that's how you feel, then.... Let the battle begin!" Mato yelled.

\----------

"Well, how do you think this battle will turn out, Yajima?" Chapati asked.

"That's not even funny." Yajima shut him down. "This will likely be a massacre and all I can say for certain is she must have one noble conviction to willingly face a Wizard Saint." He silently applauded her bravery as the match commenced.

\----------

Wendy had improved over the years, incredibly so. She might not be considered an all out powerhouse, but if she played her cards right, she definitely had a chance. There was a large possibility that Jura wouldn't expect much, and she could use that to her advantage. Between strategy, enchanting, and dragon force, Wendy was slightly confident. She wasted no time in beginning the fight. 

"Ile Five Layered Magic Enchantment!" She extended her right palm outward before bringing it up into the air and continuing to do the same with her left. 

"Vernier!" Her stance widened and the surrounding area grew dim as a green magic seal appeared above her, forcing up light magical winds that fluttered her skirt and pig tails. 

"Arms!" A second, larger, blue magic circle appeared inches above the first, and the force surrounding the magic increased.

"Lift!" Another circle appeared, this time pink.

"Armor!" A fourth circle, later gee than the rest popped into existence over the others, Jura slightly cringed at the sudden magic pressure he was now feeling.

"Thrift!" A final yellow layer, the smallest circle, appeared on top of all the others. She brought her arms down to her side, and retracted her stance. As the spell completed itself, the seals began to crack and shatter, returning normal light to the surrounding area and leaving Wendy in a dull blue aura. Her Strength, Speed, and Defense were now all doubled, her Magic Levels were momentarily increased, and her magic consumption was cut in half. As she opened her eyes, Jura, as well as anyone who knew her, was surprised to see that the usual blue was replaced by pink, her hair slowly dissolving to match her irises as an intense wind suddenly engulfed the entire plateau.

Jura, who now realized that the match shouldn't be taken lightly, launched a barrage of rocks towards Wendy in the brief moments she was enchanting herself. However, as the attack was seconds away from hitting, Wendy completed the spell, entered Dragon Force, sensed the impending attack, and disappeared. She was moving far faster than even Jura could keep up with. The only thing he could even sense was the sharp cutting noise of the girl's speed as she stopped to changed direction against the walls of the arena. Things were getting dangerous. She was a hurricane. A true force of nature. But so was he. If she was a hurricane, then he was an earthquake. 

With a massive release of his own magical pressure, countless spires of rock shot upwards, littering the arena in columns of stone. If Wendy was going to ping from wall to wall faster than he could see, he could at least add obstacles to the mix with intent to slow her down. The plan backfired. Instead, Wendy now had multiple areas to further increase her footing. Her speed actually picked up.

Jura tried to trace her movements, but they were too swift. He could only make out a slight streak, a whooshing sound, and a brief materialization of pink when she connected with a solid object. The next solid object she impacted, though, was Jura's face. Wendy had closed the distance and put a tremendous amount of strength into a Sky Dragon's Talon. Jura braved the strike, he was almost four times her size, after all. Yet, he wasn't expecting the aftermath of the Dragon Force enhanced strike. As she struck, the attack sent a torrent of wind his way, immediately spiraling him backwards into the arena wall. The harsh winds from the attack further radiated outwards, instantly collapsing the numerous rock spires into dust and debris, which was picked up by the already pervasive winds generated by the Slayer. The crowd began to cheer.

\----------

"Wow!" Chapati yelled. "Who would have though that this young woman could actually be keeping up with Jura!!??"

"I, for one, am certainly impressed." Yajima responded over the intensifying roar of the winds.

\----------

"Wendy is actually doing it!" Natsu roared happily.

"She did face off against Dimaria Yesta, and she's only improved since then." Erza complimented.

"Guys." Gray got their attention. "I don't think it's over." He pointed to the area where Jura had crashed into the wall, and they all watched as the the dust from the winds and loose rocks on the field were pulled in.

\----------

A slightly disheveled Jura pushed himself up from the rubble amidst the wall. The small girl before him was much more of a threat than credited. Luckily he was holding back. He would no longer. With his right hand extended, the rubble gracing the field and dust circulating the air began to culminate in a mass before him. The audience cheered as the newly formed mass became a highly condensed rock. Eyes widened as Jura clenched his fist causing the large rock/boulder to supercondense into not but a pebble. He was going to launch the pebble, which would strike as if there was still the force of a boulder. What's more is he continued to create roughly 20 more pebbles from newly formed boulders. He would graze the field in these, and although Wendy could move fast, she couldn't dodge everything. He swiped his arm in backhand motion, the rocks went flying outward.

Wendy had little reaction time, and while she could controls the winds while in Dragon Force, the small pebbles cut through it like bullets. They were unaffected by anything she could do. She once again resumed her intense speed and began zipping about, however complete avoidance was unlikely. As the pebbles reached their destination, the ground beneath their pressure exploded. And as 20 explosions littered the field, it was no wonder that Jura called this attack "carpet bomb." Wendy was hit by one of the shockwaves and knocked to the side. Her Five Layer Magical Enchantment managed to thwart most of the damage, but getting knocked around still wasn't the most fun thing. 

"Sky Dragon's---" She went to counter, but Jura was already on the offensive. As she looked down, a circular light was radiating out from her location, quickly covering the floor of the arena. There was no where she could run. Jura was about to use Rumbling Mt. Fuji, and likely end the fight.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" She attempted to hit the man causing a sudden thought crossed Jura's mind. Jura had, in fact, heard the conversation between Wendy and Natsu. It was sweet, and as he now saw the look of determination lining the selfless girl's young eyes, intent on bringing back a lost friend to help fix another, he knew the victory should be given to her. He would brave the roar, but play 'dead.' She deserved it.

However, as the Sky Dragon's Roar escaped the currently pinkette's mouth, it engulfed the entire arena in a deviating display. The wind released quickly brushed past a grunting Jura and slammed against the magical walls, launching upward in harsh, harsh torrents. The signature blue of the magically embedded winds grew exponentially brighter, until they instantly died down. 

The audience was silent. Wendy was left the the center of the field, mouth agape from awe at her own strength along with everyone watching. No one had expected that to occur. Jura was left where he was previously standing, only he was knocked out, not just 'knocked out,' but knocked out. Somehow, Wendy had won. And when that dawned on everyone, that's when the cheering resumed.

\----------

Suberashi just smiled at the victor. Lucy was surprised, sure, but then again Wendy did have 'outside help.'

"Thanks." She turned towards Brandish, who looked away as if she hadn't done anything special.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The small smile on her lips said otherwise.

\----------

"Wendy!" Natsu ran onto the field and scooped her into his arms. "Oh man, Wendy, I'm so proud of you! Seriously, I'm sorry I doubted you at all! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" He kissed her forehead.

"Natsu." she said quietly, pushing him away. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me."

"Wendy!" Erza also ran up and hugged the smaller female, who returned the gesture. "I just want you to know how proud of you everyone is!" Wendy smiled into the hug as Mato began his next round introductions.

"Alright, if everyone would make their way back to their team stations, we can begin the next battle." They complied and once again the screens broadcasted images of mages from the remaining 4 teams.

The first wheel spin rapidly, alternating between the twenty candidates, before it finally dies down on a person in a black cloak. It was someone from Suberashi, and the bright 2 on the side indicated it was Orenda's turn to play. The second wheel kept spinning, until it also slowed down. Finally it stopped on a picture of a small pink penguin wearing a green hat. Only, the strange part was the gold border around his picture. 

Suddenly fireworks on screen went off and a flashy banner placed itself across the trumpets which were kazooing annoyingly. 

"Well, looky here, folks." Mato danced around in glee. "The wheel of misfortune seemed to land on a 'special' game mode. For this battle, an additional wheel will be spun with numbers ranging from one to six. Whatever number the wheel lands on is whatever number of players they're allowed to bring to the fight! Now let's start rolling!" The audience went wild as the spinner began to roll.

\----------

"That's not fair!" Lucy ran forwards just a bit in order to get closer to Orenda, they got a chance at more people while Orenda was by herself. Thorin held out his arm stopping her.

"It's just five." Orenda predicted as the wheel began to slow, and sure enough, that was the number it stopped on. Her power was seriously freaky, but Lucy was still apprehensive.

"Orenda, you can't!" Lucy cried. "They were roughly the same level as us with that Etherion attack, if that hits you..." Lucy didn't even want to think about what that attack would leave behind, not that it left anything behind.

"It's fine Lucy. Remember how powerful I consider her? She's not going to be defeated." Orenda suddenly disappeared as he spoke, teleporting herself to the battlefield.

\----------  
Next Chapter:   
Day 2: Battle 3 (Orenda vs Team Rave)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of 2 on my 2/17 update. I hope you guys enjoy these fights. I'm keeping them short so I can get to the good stuff lol. Which is now very, very soon. All on day 3.


	43. Day 2: Battle (Orenda vs Rave)

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

Team Rave was already gathered at the starting point, waiting patiently for the Suberashi member to arrive. Each was smiling, content at the fact they probably had this in the hole. They weren't that far behind them on the power scale of the team battle, and with just one of them up to bat, it was possible. Finally a black shroud materialized in front of the five, giving off a slight wind as Orenda appeared. Their smiles immediately dropped as they sensed the full score of her magical pressure up close. 

"Are we going to begin....or...?" Mato questioned before seeing the hesitant nod given off by the members of Rave. 

"Haru... I've never felt anything like this... Her power..." Elie asked as she touched her boyfriends arm.

"Don't worry, Elie, no matter how strong someone is, together we will beat them. Besides, it's not like she can stop etherion." He smiled but had his breath hitch as Mato began to announce the commencement of the battle.

"3." Her magic power seemed to grow, even the audience could feel the extremities released by it.

"2." 

"Wow..." Lucy shockingly commented as she too felt the build up, it wasn't as outwardly harmful as Thorin's, but it was truthfully overwhelming. She had never felt power like this before. Even Brandish was wide eyed at the feeling, and she was easily one of the strongest humans on the planet. But then Lucy remembered what Orenda's power actually was... If brandish was one of the strongest on earth, Orenda was one of the strongest on them all...

"1." 

"Haru.." Elie clutched at his arm as she felt like she was drowning, they all did, everyone in the stadium and throughout the city. Her magic pressure was engulfing everyone.

"Go!" 

The magic pressure suddenly stopped. Everyone caught their breath and watched in shock as Orenda spoke up, a smile on her voice.

"I forfeit." She turned around and began to walk away.

The audience was stunned, as was Rave, mouths dropped in surprise. Haru broke free from his stunned reaction, shaking his head he ran forward to intercept Orenda who was halfway towards the exit.

"Please move." She asked as Haru forcibly blocked her path. He just shook his head again.

"No!" He looked her dead in the eye, even though the veil she wore prohibited such. "There's no honor in throwing in the towel."

"There's more to it than honor." She warped behind him. Surprised, he looked around before seeing her new position and rushing to stop her once again.

"Come on! We all felt your magic pressure! You're a challenge, and it's unfair for you to take away that challenge from us!" Haru pleaded, desperate to fight the woman. In the blink of an eye, he was warped back to his friends, who watched as Orenda slightly turned her hooded head towards them. 

"This is why I will not fight, let me show you." She extended her arm and sent a lightning like arc of magic skyward, there was a slight reverberation originating from the sky, but nothing else seemed to happen. "Let me tell you, and everyone a little about my magic: Quantum Rift."

They all gulped as she continued. "For every decision made on our earth, there is at least an infinite amount that were left unmade. However, those decisions live on in the form of an alternate reality where that choice was made instead of the original. My power gives me the ability to see those choices and to bring them into our reality."

"What does that mean?" Let asked in a harsh tone. 

"Well, I'll give an example. There is a railroad that is located in the Bosco of our reality that follows the construction plans for our reality. In another reality, it was their descision to make the railroad a foot to the left, and in another reality it was another foot further. Multiple realities later, the designers for the railroad decided to construct it right here in Fiore. As there there were an infinite amount of unmade choices for the railroad in our world, there are a subinfinite amount of those unmade choices that weren't in Fiore. In other words, there are an infinite amount of realities where the railroad in located in another place, and a subinfinite amount of realities where that railroad is solely located in Fiore, and in at least one of those, there is a railroad right under your feet." 

She smiled before placing her hand forward, shooting out another arc of white electricity which struck the area around team Rave. A sphere of slightly dilapidated color formed around them, differentiating the reality they were from from the one that was currently around them. "And as long as I can see the realities, or rather, know what I'm looking for, I can bring that reality to this one." A train suddenly entered the sphere of reality, causing the members of Rave to become startled and enlisting a scream from Elie and Ruby. However, just as the locomotive was about to smash them, the portal shrunk and vanished. 

"Now, here's a reality where a freeway was built above yourself, an earthquake left it in shambles, and a drunken bus driver decided to take the rout." A bubble of distortion appeared around them, a broken freeway was above them which soon gave view to a honking bus that was in free fall towards the group. The image once again collapsed, leaving them safe and slightly out of breath. This power was incredible.

"Wait a minute." Elie spoke over her pounding heart. "If there is an infinite amount of possibilities, then you can bring anything you want into existence, is that right?" 

"Exactly. While what I want might not be here, it is somewhere."

"Then what did you bring here when you shot your power towards the sky?"

Orenda once again smiled and swiped he arm to the side, causing every could in the sky to quickly disperse. What was seen was beyond shocking. "A demonstration." She answered.

"That's... That's..." Haru began, but couldn't find the words to finish his thoughts.

"It can't be...." Elie agreed, clasping her hand over her mouth in fear.

Orenda looked skyward at the newly formed celestial body. "That is a reality where earth is located there, instead of here." 

"You brought in another earth!?" Someone screamed as the looked at the mirror image of their planet roughly 100 miles above themselves.

"Yes, and now you'll understand why it's best if you accept my surrender peacefully." She held out her arms towards the side, causing multiple arcs to shoot upwards, each one opening a new rift on top of the second earth. She looked towards Elie. "Girl, you have the power of etherion, yes? Well watch as that earth is bombarded by many blasts from many realities."

The events on earth 2 couldn't be seen, after satellite like magical seals appeared and fired down shots of white concussive energy, the sky was engulfed in a bright, blinding light, it was clear multiple etherions were brought to that reality, just like she said. As the light faded, and people once again looked skyward, the side of the earth 2 facing earth one was completely eradicated, the core clearly exposed as debris and continental chunks fell down. "I can either let those hit us, or you can claim victory. Your choice." 

"We accept!" Haru acknowledged as the decrepit, destroyed half earth was sent back to where it came from. In an instant, peace was restored. Orenda warped herself away.

\----------

"Orenda! What the heck!?" Lucy yelled, now agitated. "We are on a loosing streak, and you choose to walk away?" 

As Orenda walked by her angry teammates and a frightened Brandish, she subtly used her magic to merge Lucy's mind with a personal message from another reality. The outrages of the other members were quieted as it played loudly in her head. 'Don't worry, Lucy.' It said in her mind. 'That course of action leads to a meeting between you and Salamander. You can thank me later.' She couldn't help but smile as the others continued to scold her.

\----------  
Battle 4  
\----------

"All right, all right!" Mato yelled in order to calm everyone down. The 'display' Orenda provided leaded to a lot of controversy and even more unease. "It will all be fine. You saw what she could do, if she was going to kill all of us it would have already been done." He added, trying to comfort.

"I for one, am beyond words." Yajima stated his disbelief. This had to be one of, if not the strongest, power he had ever witnessed. It was no effort at all for that hooded woman to destroy the second earth. Imagine what she could do if she tried. 

"I agree..." Chapati was quiet, nervous. 

\----------

"So, if that's what the second position can do, why isn't she first?" Juvia asked her follow guild members, who were all gathered at the observing deck.

"I also thought the same thing, myself." Erza added. "It's also unlikely she was exhibiting all of her powers. That was likely just one aspect of them."

"That doesn't matter." Natsu added calmly. "If she can bring something over that isn't happening here, it's likely that she can bring literally any attack she can think of into play." The guild looked shocking at his display of intelligence. "In some world out of her infinite amount, I was down there instead of her, and she could have brought one of my attacks into play, some goes for everything else."

"You actually followed her logic, Natsu?" Wendy asked disbelieving that everyone had trouble fathoming it except for the usually less thought-forward Natsu.

"Okay, she must have brought over another Salamander. One who is smarter." Gajeel retorted high caused him to be smacked in the arm by Levy. "What?! I'm only kidding. I already know why he's smarter."

"You do?" Makarov guided. "Then why don't you enlighten us."

"He's smarter in the same way that I am and in the same way the same way that Shrimp here just uncharacteristically hit my arm."

"Go on." Makarov didn't look satisfied. 

"It's called cross-characteristics. It's a mating thing I think, but not just with slayers, but with everyone actually. The longer you spend with someone you love, the more traits of theirs you pick up. Salamander is getting Lucy's smarts and Levy is getting my physical aggression."

"That's interesting." Makarov smiled a devious grin. "And where did you learn that?"

"....a book." Gajeel finally admitted, the whole guild began to laugh. Levy just placed a kiss on his cheek. Natsu looked away. 

Any display of affection was difficult for him. He knew other couples had issues and he wasn't alone, but it was still a sore spot that Lucy was AWOL. He quietly thought to himself how he needed to talk to someone, someone who understands what he's going through. He began to run though names in his head. Erza? No, they're just weird. Laxus? He'd kill me for talking about feelings, maybe the other side. Mira? No, she'd make it all about me and Lucy, she's so selfish. Gray? Yea right.

As Natsu realized he was likely alone in his issues, his answer, accompanied by a few others came up to the Fairy Tail grouping.

"Hello everyone." Erza greeted the newly arrived members of Sabertooth.

"Hello to you all as well." Minerva greeted warmly, well, as warmly as she could. "We thought we would ask if we could watch the next match with you as only Sabertooth and Team B are left?"

"Absolutely children." Makarov immediately allowed. "The more the merrier. And look, it looks like the decision wheels are stopping."

"Let's hope it's nothing completely random like last round. 5 v 1, how is that even fair?" Gray asked.

"Don't you mean how is that even fair for the five?" Erza responded. "They would have been destroyed had that woman chosen to fight. Oh, look, Yukino, you're up!" She stated as the first screed landed on the white haired spirit mage.

"Ah, I wonder who my opponent will be." She said excitedly and looked towards Levy as the wheel then stopped on her image. "Levy, it looks like we will be having a battle of our own!"

"Yes..." Levy replied worriedly. She knew she not only didn't like fighting, but wasn't very good at it... She begrudgingly forced a smile and went to walk with the other girl to the center of the arena.

As they walked to their destination, Rogue walked towards his. "Excuse me, Natsu." He said in an extremely hushed voice, so only they (and possibly the surrounding dragon slayers could hear. Natsu looked at him and nodded for him to continue, sensing the slight distress in his voice. "Uh, would you mind if we talked for a minute...in private?" 

Natsu once again nodded,not knowing that the dark haired male before him would be the answer to talking out his problems. Rather than watching the match between friends, they left the arena all together and found a nearby cafe.

\----------  
Day 3: Event (Palace of a Thousand Monsters)  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, did anyone read the latest issue of the manga and see Dimaria's second power? That puts a big damper on not only one, but two characters that are coming up in the story. (Probably 20 chapters out lol) But just so you all don't think I copied, here's a little about one of them.
> 
> "I should mention Ersatz next," Thorin began, urgency on his voice. "a human Mage who recently ascended to the status as a god. His magic is Takeover, and he specializes in God Soul. He managed to, so far, consume 9 deities, granting him 9 powerful forms. He used to be a Suberashi member, however, once he found out about the Council of 12, he decided to gain the power to become a member. He faked his own death so Suberashi wouldn't follow him, and Lucy soon replaced his position. Considering he is nine parts god to one part man, he is hardly considered a human, and the council accepted him in my absence, also possibly fearing he would reap their souls as well. He is known as the Pseudo-God and he owns no curse of his own."


	44. Day 3: Event (Palace of a Thousand Monsters)

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

After Rogue had approached Natsu, the two ventured to a popular cafe that Yukino and Minerva had praised to the former about. Apparently, not only was the cafe charming, well accommodating, and offered laces as of the Games, but it also served exquisite variations of coffee and pastries. Based on how much the girls spoke about the restaurant/cafe, an evidently consumed, Rogue knew exactly what to order the two. He guided Natsu to a small table near the side of the building. While Natsu stared out of the window that haloed their table, Rogue ordered their beverages, and multiple snacks (they were dragon slayers after all.) 

After convincing the clerk of the validity of his massive order, the temporary Guild Master made his way back to his friend. Desserts were soon delivered,as were their sugary drinks, and it wasn't long before they, or rather Natsu, began to talk about their issues. Natsu basically complained about how much he missed Lucy and how he was stupid to wait so long. Rogue listened intensely, hoping to gain some insight as to these weird feelings he had for Sting. After all, Natsu and Lucy were as close as he and Sting. Natsu was going through roughly the same thing. It wasn't a few moments later when Natsu asked Rogue about how he was holding up in regards to Sting. Rogue answered honestly that he truthfully didn't know how he actually felt, and he was likely still in shock. Because Natsu had shared with him, Rogue depicted the horror story that led to Sting's disappearance, and after hearing it, Natsu questioned what Rogue's feelings towards the blond were. Rogue truthfully answered that he also didn't know how he felt in that regard, that things between them had become confusing, to say the least, and that's part of why he desperately wanted to find his oldest friend. 

Midway through their talk, the boys looked towards the Lacrima Screen only to see one of Levy's Solid Script attacks slam into Yukino as one of her spirits zapped her with electricity. In tandem, the two fell over in what would be ruled as a tie; awarding both teams 5 points. 

The current scores were then calculated and broadcasted on the Lacrima.

Rave: 36  
Sabertooth: 31  
Fairy Tail A: 22  
Mermaid Heel: 18  
Blue Pegasus: 17  
Suberashi: 12  
Fairy Tail B: 10  
Lamia Scale: 6

(I had to recalculate the scores)

The two boys ultimately spent the day the the reassuring company of the other, knowing that in their time of need, they had found someone who could resonate with and support each other. A day has gone by since Natsu and Rogue met up, and now all the groups are back at the arena for the Day 3: Event. And if the eerie looking castle before the roaring crowd was any indicator as to the challenge, it was likely going to be similar to Pandemonium, three years back. 

Erza smiled, hoping she would, once again be picked for the event, and as Mato called the names, she was not disappointed. Apparently, this participants for this event were not random, instead they were audience polled. The most popular vote from each team was the contestant, and Mato soon announced Erza as the Fairy Tail A representative. Mira followed suite as B. Thorin, under the name '4,' was elected. Jenny stepped up for Blue Pegasus. Lyon was chosen for Lamia Scale. In an interesting turn of events, Rufus came forward as Sabertooths while Elie from Rave was also dumbfounded oh elected. The last nominee, the most popular from Mermaid Heel, made her way out, fully skeptical of '4,' who had placed her in critical care just days before. 

Everyone pulled a number out of a hat, and Erza was surprised to see that she was, once again, first. Thorin managed to get second, followed by Mira, who got Third, Lyon pulled Fourth, Rufus had Fifth, Kagura placed Sixth, Elie was at Seven, and Jenny was left at Eight.

Mato's hologram filled the center of the arena and began to read the rules.

"Hello Everyone and thanks for coming! A few of you might remember this eerie prop, but I assure you it's been remastered. No longer is it called Pandemonium, a house of 100 monsters. We had to rev it up due to a certain...cough Erza cough... Mage. Instead, it is now known as the Palace of 1000 Monsters! And it has had its difficulty raised by ten. The rules are the same. The number you have chosen determines the order you go in. You must call out a certain number of monsters you wish to fight, and if you complete that number, those points are added towards your running total. The ranks will be determined by number of points. However, if you are unable to defeat the number of monsters you voiced, then you are eliminated from that round and you will receive no points. You score before entering that round will be your total. Now without further ado! Erza!"

She thought for a moment. It was silly to challenge all 1000. Mato had stated the challenge had been multiplied by ten. Which means that there would be ten of the powerhouse S-Class monsters. She could handle one, probably two, maybe three, and she could stretch for five. She knew what she would do.

"I challenge..." The audience quieted in suspense for her number. "501!" She braved the entirety of the Pandemonium last time, however as hindsight is 20/20, she realized she could have placed first by killing one more then half the total number. Then, even if someone managed to slay the rest, they would only reach 49, and therefore place second.

The audience went wild at her declaration, and the scarlet maiden confidently walked into the palace, intent on setting a new record.

\-----------  
30 minutes later  
\-----------

Erza was dangerously low on magic energy, yet she kept slashing away. She had already braved 3 S-Class monsters, around 30 A-Class, and an uncountable amount of B through D class monsters. Her number was currently at 499 and she only needed two more before she could leave the palace and just...well...collapse. As she entered what would be the final room, she prayed the monsters would be easy. As two gigantic doors opened, giving way to the last two monsters, she gulped. Massive footsteps clomped through the hallways, and an impressive roar enlisted a light wind to blow through the air. 

A smile graced her face when the threatening clomps and roars were actually farce. Instead of two terrifying beasts, two meager d-class opponents walked through their doors. With a few flips, she slashed through the enemies and made her way outside. She was greeted by an arena full of cheers whose volume quickly dulled as she slowly lost consciousness. She expected to land on a hard, cold floor. Instead, two strong arms broke her fall, and as she looked up, she saw a face she didn't expect to see. Thorin. She took in his features as she suddenly felt like she was weightless, she likely was. He wasn't smiling, he wasn't angry, or anything, he was just stoic and he calmly made his way to Fairy Tail. She closed her eyes in dreariness. Erza could vaguely make out a quick 'thank you' from Makarov, and then an exchange of arms. Weightlessness was traded for warmth, and when the voice above her said 'this doesn't make us even,' she knew she was in Natsu's care. 

\-----------

Thorin handed over Erza, turned heel, and walked swiftly towards the massive palace which still housed 499 monsters. Erza was lucky to secure first place, but at least he could garnish his team with 8 points.

"And now for Suberashi!! Number 4!!" Mato announced and Thorin immediately halted in front of the palace. His cloak, which fluttered behind him as testament to his swiftness, fell back to his body. However, the garment quickly flared outward as he began to release massive torrents of power that caused the cheering audience to halt their applause. The pressure continued to grow until it sudden,y disappeared. Thorin outstretched his arms and clapped them together, placing his hands in a prayer position. The veins in his arms emerged as he struggled to preform the will he had been practicing. He had been using a new move, 'Franger,' on lesser targets with devastating results, now it was time to apply it on a grand scale. 

The audience watched in silence as nothing seemed to happen, and a few moments later, still nothing did. Thorin's body was shaking under the strain of the will, and his nose began to harshly leak blood. Murmurs graced the audience as well as the remaining eight contestants, all wondering what on earth the 'man' before them was doing. Embarrassing chuckles, too, escaped the lips of some audience members, and it wasn't much longer until there was full on laughter. Thorin just smiled as he finally felt a give. His will outweighed that of the massive palace's and the laughter died down as a large crack splintered diagonally across it. There was further audience skepticism before more cracks emerged, and then more. And when the fourth wave of cracks should have shown up, Thorin turned around and walked back to the other eight. A second later, the entire building shattered into trillions of minuscule pieces, which even further broke down. The palace was reduced to literally nothing and Throin smiled as he knew he had finally secured a high position for his team. His new will, Franger, rather than changing weight or pressure, changed something infinitely more fragile: brittleness. In fact, he had changed the entire palace's brittleness to a point where it was so low that even air would shatter it. He waited for Mato's response.

"And Suberashi gets another O points!!" Thorin immediately snapped to frustration.

"Still!? What the fuck now!?"

"You didn't say a number, tato." The pumpkin referee stated causing Thorin to angrily yell. He was seconds away from crushing the asshole, but halted himself when he noted it wouldn't be worth it. He walked away in frustration. Mato, once again, set up a Magic Power Finder to determine the ranking of the rest. It didn't take long to finish and the rankings were immediately determined. Mato's hologram immediately appeared and the announcement for the first battle made made. The two magical slots lined the magical protection screens and as the first wheel skidded to a stop Minerva was chosen, and the audience roared. The second wheel soon came to a halt, and the audience was quiet in anticipation for yet another Suberashi reveal. This time it was Number 5: Lucy.

\----------  
Next Chapter:  
Day 3: Battle 1 (Lucy vs Minerva)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's short, but I already have the Lucy vs Minerva fight written. Literally wrote it months ago lol. Maybe I'll go back and edit this chapter sometime later, but as for now I'm working on 5 upcoming battles which span over 20 chapters... How fun... But it's all worth it! Thanks for reading! Lucy vs Minerva will be out Monday!


	45. Lucy vs Minerva

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

Lucy calmly made her way to the center of the arena, careful to maintain a gait that wasn't similar to her old strut. Minerva was already in the center, standing next to Mato, waiting for the battle to begin. Minerva seemed lighter, happier. She no longer dwelled in the darkness. To her, this battle was just friendly competition. Lucy would be lying if she tried to convince herself that this match was just solely to demonstrate her new powers. The match, to her, was also slightly revenge. But only slightly.

Sure, she had forgiven Minerva, and she had genuinely meant that forgiveness and altruistically given it. But, still, the fact that Lucy could now actually go toe to toe with Minerva without hesitation and potentially win made her just a little excited. Sadly, no one would know that it was actually her, her cloak covering her body and face, and her lack of keys removing any obvious magical identifiers. And it's not really like she wanted the validation from others, she had come to accept herself and realized that she shouldn't place value on herself based on how others perceived her. Lucy arrived at the center, only a few feet away from Minerva.

"Alright then!" Mato yelled, his voice echoing through the stadium. "If both contestants are ready, the match will begin once you take your places." A gold line appeared behind both of them, they had to make they way behind it. The match wouldn't start with them only a few feet away.

"I'm Minerva, by the way." The woman raised her hand in a salutation. "Good luck." Well now Lucy felt bad about wanting to beat her. But her resolve couldn't falter, not now.

"You too." Lucy replied as she turned around. She couldn't help a small smile appearing across her cloaked face. However, her grin faltered when she noticed a scrupulous look coming from her opponent. Could it be that Minerva recognized her voice!? That would be bad. Lucy had a habit of talking during fights... Lucy just cleared her throat and walked to the starting zone. 

"The match is starting in...." The voice played as they both reached their starting spots.

"3" time seemed to slow for the two women.

"2" Lucy could hear her heartbeat and she could feel the thick blood pumping through her veins.

"1" Thump. Thump.

"Go!"

Minerva wasted no time getting things started. She immediately formed an oil colored tomoe and thrust her hand through it. Minerva's fist appeared to the right of Lucy in attempt to hook her right out of the gate. All of Lucy's fight lessons would have been for nothing if she didn't dodge. So that's what she did, her periphery allowing her to move slightly back at the last second.

Minerva's hand returned to its normal location, continuing to form a tomoe in conjecture with the other. He hands met in the center and a beam of energy shot outward, fully engulfing Lucy, who had yet to do any magic. 

The crowd began to cheer voraciously. "Would you look at this everyone!! Minerva opens up by bringing the heat! Suberashi wasn't even able to get in an attack!" The cheers continued as Minerva's attack began to fade out.

"But wait! Look at that! This isn't over!" Yajima yelled noticing a silhouette still standing 

Once all the techni-colored attack passed, the entire audience was greeted with a still standing and unscathed Lucy, protected by a water shield, which too, dissipated as the attack was over. You're going to have to do slightly better than that." Lucy cockily stated. Never before could she even dream to take on Minerva, but now she was still standing after a powerful attack. 

"It looks like Suberashi once again evaded a damaging blow! What happens next is anyone's guess."

Lucy watched as Minerva warped right in front of her, hands glowing in greenish spheres. As Minerva swung her arm outward Lucy dodged while simultaneously Star Dressing into Leo. The next swing was now intercepted by a regulus enhanced fist, then another, then another, then another, all with blinding speeds. The audience couldn't visually keep up, but if the outwardly radiating magical energy was any indicator then they were releasing a lot of power. Lucy was playing with Minerva. It became abundantly clear that she was the better of the two in terms of melee, so when she saw an opening she took it. She blocked one last sphere and held her arm out forward stopping a few inches before Minerva's stomach. She then used the technique Loke had taught her and sent a beam of regulus flying outward. It connected with Minerva and she was sent flying back to her side of the field.

"Oh my, pumpkin!" Mato yelled. "Oh my, oh my! The ratings will skyrocket with this battle!" 

Lucy smiled as Minerva growled, it was time for Lucy's main strategy. "Last time you were here you brought along your 'Twin Dragons.' Now it's time to show you mine."

Lucy's right fist began to glow Celestial light. She brought her arm up to her left and wiped it across the air in front of her. As her arm reached a fully extended length to the left, two massive circular golden seals formed on her right and left, roughly thirty feet away. As the seals opened, not one, but two colossal black dragons emerged from them. One was Draco, the other was Gemini imitating the beast. She had trained with Gemini to the point where they would know exactly what to do upon being summoned, almost like a psychic link. She had also trained tremendously with Draco, who had grown a bit closer to her. And although he still wasn't the warmest of spirits, he wouldn't say her name in front of this audience. He did respect her, and would gladly fight for her. She still couldn't Draco Star Dress, not until he built up the antibodies, anyways.

"What on earth!?" Chapoti yelled into the mic-lacrima. "Did she just summon two dragons!?"

"It's looks like it." Yajima responded in disbelief, his words falling flat over the roars of the crowd.

"Oh my, oh my!" Mato yelled. "Things are really getting good now, pumpkin!"

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"No way!" Wendy watched as the dragons were summoned. 

"Are they authentic?" Erza questioned, believing that dragons were extinct. 

"It could be memory-make, like Rufus." Gray suggested. "Or Arc of Embodiment, like Rustyrose."

"No, those are real!" Natsu yelled. "Wendy, you can feel it too, right? Gajeel and Rogue probably feel the same thing!"

"So this woman is a summoner type."

"Do you think it's Lucy?" Wendy asked hopefully.

"I'm not entirely sure. Earlier she used water magic, then some form of fire magic, now this. Not to mention there wasn't any visible key when she summoned, her hand just began to glow."

"Fuck!" Natsu cried out, he was seriously hoping that this one would be Lucy.

"Calm down, Natsu" Erza assured him. "The match is far too early to decide for certain if it is her or not. The magic did look...slightly similar."

"Then all we have to do it hope." Natsu said quietly.

\----------  
Battle: Minerva vs Lucy  
\----------

Minerva was in the same hesitation of disbelief. How could there be two seemingly real dragons standing before her?! It was nonsense, it had to be, they must be illusions or something. So why did her opponent suddenly talk to the dragons that had just finished exiting their respective gates?

"Both of you. Dragon Roar: Unison Raid."

Both dragons moved in tandem. Their gaping mouths opened wide and a ball of magic golden energy began to circle on both their mouths. The dragons moved their heads closer together as the balls of energy grew in power. The low intake sound of the energy charging stopped from both parties and they simultaneously released their devastation onto the battlefield. 

A true dragon roar, one from a dragon, was devastating enough. A single breath had the power to end most one on one battles. Now that there were not only two attacks, but a unison raid, made it all the more brilliant. The golden light from their mouths expanded outward, blinding anyone who looked the attack head on and leveling the earth in front of them. The attack was linear, not omnidirectional, lest the summoner also be harmed. Minerva knew this attack would end the battle. However, she could use this to her advantage. She would win this fight the same way that she had beat Fingers. With a blink of her eye she swapped locations with Lucy, who now stood facing a direct attack from her own spirits.

Minerva watched as her opponent held out her arms, shielding and bracing herself for the impact that she had little time to react to. As the light enveloped her, the spirits exploded into a sparkling display of gold glitter, returning to their home. As the attack, too, faded, Lucy was left lying face down. Defeated. Minerva walked over, the crowd cheering behind her.

"Sorry that this battle had to end. You were a refreshing opponent." 

"Well you saw it, everyone!" Chapati yelled. "Someone from Suberashi was finally defeated!"

"I know, pumpkin!" Mato added. "I can't believe my eyes, pumpkin!"

Minerva walked closer to the unconscious body. The least she could do was help her opponent up. But as she reached down to grip the unconscious girl, her body, also, melted into golden light that rose upward and dissipated. 

"What the!?" Minerva questioned looking all around her.

"And it looks like the fight isn't yet over!!! Could this get any more entertaining!?" Chapati announced causing the crowd to go wild. 

"But where is Suberashi?" Mato looked around, as did everyone else. No one could seem to locate the member.

As Minerva looked in all directions she began to panic. What was happening? This opponent was toying with her. They had to be. She was a fool to think she could hold her own against a Suberashi member. Interrupting her thoughts was a lone arrow that imbedded itself into the ground right next to Minerva, who looked at it the moment it wooshed past. 'What was...?' Before she could finish her mental question, Supernova Shot exploded.

Lucy had been predicting a place swap from Minerva at any given moment. So when she unleashed a Dragon Roar: Unison Raid, she wasn't surprised Minerva had placed her on the front lines for the attack. In fact, she already had a plan. As the attack surrounded her, she Star Dressed into Horologium Form, which made the attack null against her. The attack, luckily, also had the adds effect of being so golden that it was blinding, thus making anything she would do unseen. She resummoned Gemini next to her, but as a copy of herself, then summoned Virgo who immediately began tunneling with Lucy. As the littering effects of the attack had ended, Gemini positioned themselves as a decoy defeated Lucy while Virgo brought her up to the top of one of the large statues that circled the entirety of Domus Flau. She had immediately Star Dressed into Sagittarius Form, a form that would be recognized by her friends. But this, too, was part of her plan. She was now up and out of view, leaving no one to see the form, and therefor no one to recognize it. She then readied the bow and launched her most powerful attack while in this form, Supernova Shot. And she watched as the arrow sailed through the air and struck the ground near Minerva. 

Minerva's eyes went wide and time seemed to slow to a halt as the explosion radiated outward. She could tell that this was definitely Omani-directional, and couldn't cleanly teleport to anywhere. Well anywhere within the circular battlefield at least... That was it! Between the inexcapability of the blast as the angle the arrow was imbedded into the ground, her opponent must have been high, way up high. That would definitely leave them safe from the explosion. Without further thought she teleported herself to the top of one of the four statutes heads that looked down at the battlefield.

The audience gasped as the multi-colored celestial explosion slammed into the invisible magic wall, the confined energy spreading itself upward. Oohs and awes echoed through the crowd.

"Wow." Chapati complimented as the captivating light show stopped, revealing a completely demolished battlefield. "That was so beautiful we were all forgetting this was a devastating attack that has left Minerva no where to be seen!" He cried worriedly. The audience once again went silent, fearing the worst for the most powerful Mage in Sabertooth. Suddenly a single voice from the audience cried out.

"Look!" He shouted. "Up there!" As the audience followed his gaze, they spotted two distant figures engaged in combat atop the southern statues head. 

"Get a camera up there quick, pumpkin!" A lacrima drone made its way out of the stands and into the sky. An image displaying what it saw appeared on the holographic display of the magical barrier that blocked the attacks for the audience who now remained in suspense. As the camera focused on the two hand-to-hand combatants, Chapati resumed the announcing.

"It's them!!!" He cried, and the audience went wild, 

As soon as Minera had zipped to the head of the statue, she bent over and placed her hands on her knees. She had been using a lot of magic and was getting low. Normally she wouldn't be tired, but as she was fighting a guid out of legends, she added far more power than usual to each attack. Though her heavy breathing her eyes snapped open upon hearing something masked by the explosion. Were those footsteps? She turned around and was greeted by her opponent swinging a bow towards her head. 

Lucy had trained to fight with her bow almost as if it was a staff. A bōstaff. Get it? She internally chuckled. When she had spotted Minerva warp to her pillar out of all pillars, she had rushed forward, while also thanking a higher power for her luck. She positioned her hand on the lowest part of the bow, which gave her the most length, and swung it forward once she was close enough to her tired opponent. 

Minerva wrapped her hand in her magic and ducked her head, dodging the blow. Her hand intercepted the next, and the next, and the next, but it clear this person knew how to fight. After a few more parries, the explosion beneath them had subsided, and the two both watched as a lacrima-cam floated to watch them, the crowd cheering their fight. 

Minerva had to get some distance between the two. If she got far enough away then she could alter the properties of space around the Suberashi member, and maybe get a strike in. With a final block she turned heel, eyed another head, and blinked her way to the top of that one. 

Lucy watched as Minerva blipped away and went to change her current hold on her bow to a normal one. She pulled back the drawstring, readying a magical arrow, time for Star Shot. If Minerva was going to go on the defensive and move around, then Lucy would send a homing barrage her way. She released her hold on the energy as she eyed Minerva on the eastern statue. 

Minerva arrived at the eastern head, a good distance from her opponent. She turned around, expecting to immediately use the harmful waves Territory offered her. She was, instead, greeted by fifty or so rays of energy that arced outward from the shooter in damn near every direction, and then bent so they were now after Minerva. She stated moving her arms wildly. If she could disrupt the space around the arrows, then they would falter and become useless. One down... Two.... Three... It wasn't long before she had removed close to all of them. 47.... Crap, they were too close, she teleported away once more, this time to the western head. 

As she arrived she turned to look at the eastern head, which was hit with the three arrows that she failed to eliminate. As they hit, they exploded... Violently... They were highly volatile, after all. She thought that was just an effect of her magic hitting them midair, now she knew they were meant to explode, just as the first, but not as devastating. Minerva didn't notice as another arrow stuck itself right by her foot, and this time she was greeted with the blunt force of another supernova shot. 

The audience watched in disbelief as the western statue head was obliterated in the same beautiful explosion that hit the center of the field just moments ago. Minerva had looked at the new arrow at the last possible second. There wasn't enough time to teleport, but she could use her magic to block some of the damage. The blast hit her full force, her oil like tomoe hands doing little other protecting her face and torso. She was knocked clean off of the head, and was now smoking from the blast and free falling head first towards the field. She managed to open her eyes a moment before slamming into the earth and teleport herself to safety. 

"This match is coming to an end." Chapati said solemnly as he watched Minerva warp to the center of the tattered field. She was now completely panting, almost dry of magic energy and completely out of breath, she felt like she had ran a marathon. 

\-----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"That... That arrow magic..." Gray pointed out.

"Like that time we saved master..." Wendy added

"Could that really be her?" Erza asked stunned. This Suberashi member was tough. Erza still struggled against Minerva, and here was someone who was sweeping the floor with her. If that someone was actually Lucy... 

\---------

Lucy had this in the bag. Minerva was almost out of magic while she hadn't actually even touched her own. Star Dressing helped to keep her at full. Even with two Supernova Shots and a Star Shot, Lucy still had a decent amount of Sagittarius magic left in addition to the entirety of her own. With her opponents reserves, Lucy had no doubt that she would try her most powerful attack next. And that's exactly what happened. Lucy dismissed her Star Dress, in preparation for what was to come.

Minerva looked up at the cloaked figure still stop the statue. It was time for the Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic. However, the intensity of the magic required her opponent closer rather than farther. So in an instant, Minerva warped to Lucy's location and placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing them both back to the center of the field. Hopefully the magical barrier would hold up, the spell was now or never. Minerva placed the tips of her fingers in the center of her other hand and spread the index and middle finger apart. Lucy was suddenly encased in a Territory sphere and began helplessly floating above the ground in her suspended bubble.

"Niel Wielg Mion!" Minerva chanted as he rotated her arms, the right arm extended outward and her left suspended above her head.

"Terse Elcantaeus." Light began to radiate outward and Minerva brought her hands outward, smiling, for the final part of the powerful and destructive spell.

"Yagdo Rigora!" A ball of light emerged around her and expanded to the size of the field before it contracted in on itself. Immediately a beam of light shot upward, large enough to engulf the whole field and even rupture the already damaged terrain further. The audience was in disbelief at the immense amount of magic power right in front of them, to the point most had to shield themselves from the feeling of its closeness. The barrier could keep out the actual magic, but not the feeling of it. 

"That...that attack again?" Chapati asked.

"It is powerful, indeed, I'm sure everyone here is feeling just how strong it is." Yajima nodded.

"I think this has to be the end of the battle. I doubt anyone could get past this one, it's much stronger than the one used last time by Minerva."

"Let's wait and see."

The light fizzled out after a few explosive moments. The ground was completely shattered, far beyond what Supernova Shot had accomplished. Dirt was upturned, stone was misplaced, some parts of the floor fell tens of feet deep in pitfalls, and Lucy was no where to be seen, again. Everything was calm for a few moments before a low rattle pierced everyone's ears.

A low rumbling sound began to shift from a rock pile a few yards away from Minerva. As she watched she saw the Suberashi member lift up a tremendous bolder and chuck it like it was nothing. Lucy had endured the blunt of the attack by switching to Aquarius Form and easily blocking the attack. When the attack was over, however, she was surrounded by a pile a rubble and found herself underneath a large bolder. She swapped her Aquarius Form for her Taurus Form and easily removed the weight of the stone. Thanks Thorin. She set her sights on the barely standing Minerva. Time to end this. 

"Now it's my turn." Using either Urano Metria or Gottfried would immediately give her away to Fairy Tail. But it was enough. She had planned on telling them who she was afterwards anyways, it didn't matter if they pieced things together a little early. Gottfried it was.

"I ask that the heavens make the stars descend to earth..." Her voice was quiet, an eerie whisper. While she spoke, the incantation reverberated and echoed into everyone's ears, equally as soft. As she finished the first line, her magical power surged outward, causing the sky to bleed red light through the clouds which stained the earth black.

"Illuminate... By all means... This land... This world... This land..." Her voice continued to echo. A green glowing sphere of energy formed at her chest and expanded outward, fulling encasing its caster and causing an odd contrast against the bleak and dark earth and red sky.

"By your hand, let everything be illuminated." A low hum resonated through the air followed by the sound of rhythmic thudding. A pulse. Her pulse. The green sphere surrounding her began to throb in tandem with the rhythm of her heartbeat, and after a few seconds the green light shot skyward in a column of energy, a spiraling beam swirling around it. The clouds that were there previously were immediately dispersed, as the light hit them, allowing the red glow of the sky to be seen at its full brilliance.

"Twinkling, shooting, falling... Let the stars descend before us." Each star began to shine. Lines forming between them, connecting each so their constellation was vivid in the crimson sky. Each star continued to grow brighter and illuminate further, causing a new light to form upon the earth. One more word and Lucy would complete the spell.

"Gottfried!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The continuously illuminating stars reached their peak, a new light shining down on earth. Her pillar of light collapsed downward, returning to the pulsating sphere before the sky turned a pale yellow from the stars, followed by an immense beam of energy that cascaded in a massive radius around Lucy. 

"Oh my! Pumpkin!!!!!" Mato cried as he was forced out of his chair. The entire audience was blasted back, the shock wave put shame to the one caused by Es. The light's power built and built and the audience watched in horror as the barrier protecting them began to crack and splinter. They continued to be forced back by the sheer energy, and more and more people screamed. Chapati was trying his damnedest to keep from also flying backwards, he had a duty to commentate, after all. However, they all screamed as it was finally shattered, the magic pouring outward and sweeping painfully passed everyone. It didn't last long, though, as Orenda Quantem Supersuspended the entirety of the town once Gottfried began to leak through, returning everyone to a calmer demeanor...before they resumed cheering. The audience sure was wishy-washy in their emotions.

After what seemed like eternity, the spell subsided by swiftly retracting back into the blood red sky, which turned blue and clear once more. 

Minerva was done. Defeated the moment that spell started. All she could do was one more thing. During the spell, she had noticed something. Her opponent's Guild Mark. But it wasn't just that. Not only was there a spiraled S shaped mark on the back of her left hand, but there was also a Fairy Tail mark on her right. Pink. Like Lucy's. 

Minerva had had her suspicions since the beginning of the fight, but as the spell started, she knew for sure that her opponent was the missing Heartfilia. With the last of her consciousness, and the last drop of her strength, she moved her fingers slightly, as that's all she could move. The cloak that was previously hiding Lucy was teleported away, leaving the Celestial Spirit Mage in full view for everyone to see.

\------------

"Is that... Lucy Heartfilia?" Chapati asked in awe. 

"There's no way, pumpkin."

The audience was in the same level of confusion. I thought she was from Fairy Tail. I thought she was weak. I thought she was hot. Oh wait, she still is. Many more comments littered the mouths of the audience.

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"L...Lucy?" Natsu asked mostly to himself, tears now littering his eyes. He couldn't believe this was her. That this was how strong she had gotten. He couldn't believe how good she looked. And he couldn't believe how much he wanted to both go down there and kiss her because she was all he could think about but also fight her. Fight her for being so close to him the whole time, yet remain so far out of his reach. Was it that she was over him? He could barely restrain himself now, how was she able to so calmly ignore him. Natsu suddenly felt too overwhelmed with emotion.

"Fuck." Gray said. "That's Lucy now?"

"It's no wonder her magic level was unrecognizable earlier. Good call, Pulse." Wendy added.

"That last attack.... It was effortless to her..." Erza was probably in more disbelief than anyone. She had always viewed Lucy as more valuable rather than powerful. She was a great asset, but not a powerhouse. That had definitely changed. She took on Minerva like it was nothing. Her thoughts were broken as she looked to wards a tearful Natsu, who just turned around and began to calmly walk out of the stadium. "Natsu! Where are you going? Lucy is that way?" 

"I just... I can't right now, Erza. I'm sorry." She didn't press the issue. She knew that love was sometimes too much to handle. Natsu no doubt felt shorted out. Hopefully Lucy would find him now that her secrecy had fled.

\----------

Natsu left all the cheers of victory behind and made his way back to the bar/inn Fairy Tail was staying at. He moved up the stairs and entered the bedroom he and Gray were sharing, a room that felt a whole lot less intimate when they weren't 'married.' He quietly went to his bed, hopped in it and pulled the covers over his head where he silently cried himself to sleep. 

\----------

Next Chapter: Reunion  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here, the start of the cool chapters lol. Also, next chapter might contain some smut...


	46. Reunion

\----------  
The Bar Inn (That's the name I'm going with)  
\----------

What if Fairy Tail didn't want her around anymore? 

What if they saw her as someone who abandoned their friends for personal gain?

Could she live with that, or would it kill her inside? 

What would Natsu say to her? 

Would it be good or bad? 

Did he even like her? 

Or did he pick Lisanna?

These were just a few thoughts that plagued the young Heartfilia's mind, who stood before the massive, intimidating wooden doors of the bar that the entirety of Fairy Tail was currently staying in. Through all of their trials and tribulations, nothing came close to making Lucy this fearful and anxiety ridden. Subconsciously and, well, relatively consciously she knew this day would come. She understood that she had to pay the piper for her departure, but she just didn't expect it to come so soon... Or happen so abruptly for that matter. Damn Minerva giving her no time to prepare. If she hadn't outed her in the last match, Lucy could have easily avoided this whole situation until a much more appropriate time. And Thorin! Damn him and this whole 'let's enter the Grand Magic Games' idea he had... Lucy took a deep breath and moved forward. It was now or never.

What would Erza do?

Her hand immediately stopped inches from the door. She had forgot about the possible reaction Erza would have. The woman had a temper like no other, and more than half of anything broadcasted to her was a misunderstanding... Lucy began to sweat as she thought of all the possibilities. But there was a chance!! Erza's reactions were so random, so spontaneous, that maybe, just maybe, she would react decently... As long as Lucy had that hope, she would continue forward. Her hand reached the cool wood, and she pushed forward.

The heavy amount of noise that was radiating out of the building ceased immediately as the doors reached their full swing. The entire guild regarded the Celestial Spirit Mage in absolute silence. Lucy took a few more steps, fully entering the establishment; the eyes just followed her. Lucy had never felt this uncomfortable, and why she continued to take more steps forward, deepening her position to the center of the silent fray, Lucy will never know. She was now, literally surrounded by her guild-mates, still, not a single one talking to her. She looked around, panic pumping through her as she attempted to read the emotions of one person. Just one person would be enough! But there was none. Even Wendy looked at her in silence. Juvia also. Gray.... Mira... Anyone...

Finally, on her right, Lucy sensed someone moving forward. She smiled and looked towards the soul who seemed to regard her. The smile didn't last long, however. Lucy's mind literally screamed as a beautiful woman with a mass of red hair continued stepping towards her. Anyone, but her, would have been fine! Gajeel, even, would have been better. Anyone would be less scary right now than Erza Scarlet of all people. Lucy gulped as, what was likely, her greatest fear stood directly in front of her.

Erza still didn't speak. Instead she lifted her left arm and brought her hand violently across Lucy's face. Lucy's head was forced slightly to the left from the slap, and, as instinct took over, Lucy didn't even realize that she roughly whipped her own hand back up and responded with a heavy backhand to the Requip Mage. Erza looked stunned, and based on the gasps of the watching guild members, so we're they. Lucy brought her own two hands to her mouth, similarly in disbelief. Had she actually just struck Erza!?

"Oh my gosh." Lucy got out as Erza slowly readjusted herself, an untraceable emotion lining her eyes. "I didn't... I had no ide... Aaaaa!" Lucy screamed as Erza lunged forward, attacking her with all of her might, an attack so strong it would cut the earth in half!!! Oh good gods, no!!!! Lucy's mind wandered before reality set in. Erza was hugging her and the guild resumed their heavy cheering. 

"Welcome back, Lucy!" She heard Juvia yell.

"You're kick ass, Lucy!!" Jet and Droy yelled in unison.

"She's hell of manly!" Elfman roared. 

Finally the woman hugging her spoke. "We've all missed you, so much." Lucy couldn't help but hug back. There was no anger, or hatred, or angst lining anyone's voice. They all seemed genuinely happy for her. Oh fuck! Happy! He was still asleep on her bed with Suberashi. Well, another time. Right now she was enjoying the hug. Erza's arms were soon replaced by a very shirtless Gray's, who also planted a caring kiss atop her head. 

"Don't do that again." He said quietly before Juvia stepped forward. Lucy's grip around his waist loosening in fear that she had upset the water Mage. Gray's grip, too, loosened around her shoulders. Anger coated Juvia's voice as she spoke.

"Lucy might be Juvia's love rival, but right now, Gray-Sama is Juvia's hug rival!" She pushed her on and off again boyfriend out of the way and immediately wrapped her arms forcefully around the Stellar Mage. Lucy responded to the cool hug and Juvia muttered similar words of greetings. Then, something Lucy didn't expect, but should have, happened.

"I wanna hug Lucy next!" She heard a random voice say. 

"No, it's mine turn!" Another yelled.

"Both of you, get on line!" Another quipped. And it was then that she heard the ever familiar sound of flesh striking flesh. And just a few seconds later, a full out brawl erupted between multiple members of the guild. As portions of the nice Bar Inn were obliterated, a small group of the less battle ready members made their way to the corner, out of all the violence. 

"Lucy." Makarov regarded the young woman from atop a stool. "Welcome home." 

"Thank you, Master!" His approval meant the world to her. 

"We seriously all missed you." Wendy admitted as well. 

"And where is Happy?" Carla questioned.

"I missed Thorin, too." Mira spoke up. "Where is he?"

"Both are likely at the hotel we are staying at, asleep." Lucy clarified their absence.

"Asleep?" Makarov questioned. "At this time of day?"

"Thorin has extremely low blood pressure, a trait that's apparently shared amongst...his family, and he's always calm and borderline unconscious. And Happy, well, Happy just sleeps a lot anyways." She was about to say 'apparently shared amongst gods,' but luckily caught herself. She had always wondered why Thorin could survive near lethal attacks unphased, and well, the answer was he couldn't bleed. Bleed a lot anyways. His blood pressure, and all gods, was so low, that a sliced throat would take hours to actually kill, and the low heart rate was also a key factor in how his body managed to stay youthful.

"That's disappointing. I would have liked to see our old exceed friend as well as get to know the man who trained you to this point. We didn't get off on the right foot, but he is more than welcome now." Makarov hesitated for a second. "In fact, why don't we send someone to invite your new friends over? I'm sure they all like a good party."

"Well." Lucy thought for a second. "It's not really a party yet, still just a brawl. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind coming." 

"Very well, in fact, I will go personally." Makarov hopped off his chair before continuing. "Where are they staying?"

"Papillon Towers, the top floor." Lucy smiled. He was even going out of his way to make Lucy's new friends feel included in the family. He was truly a sweet person. "Oh, wait! A former Spriggan 12 is there as well. You remember Brandish, don't you? The one who saved Natsu." Saying his name made her immediately realize that she hadn't seen a trace of pink since she had entered the building. Where on earth was he?

"Thank you, now, I'm off. Wendy, Carla, would you young ladies care to accompany me?" They eagerly complied, Carla extremely excited to see her exceed friend. She had really missed him over the last few months.

"Mira?" Natsu was still fresh on her mind. "Where's Natsu?"

"Oh, right." Mira sighed. "When he saw Minerva unveil you, he seemed really sad and came back here. I think he is in his room upstairs. Third floor, last room on the left. He is sharing it with Gray, but I'll make sure he stays down here so you can have some alone time to talk."

"Thank you, Mira." Lucy verbalized her gratitude and began walking up the stairs. It was now time to see the person who mattered to her more than anyone else.

\----------  
Natsu's Room  
\----------

"Natsu?" Lucy asked as she placed two gentle knocks against the wooden door which was already ajar. The light in the room was dim, but she could visibly make out a lump on the far bed of the room as she entered. 

"Go away." The voice grumbled dismissively. The display made it clear he didn't want to see anyone, but Lucy was known for being pushy. It also sounded like he didn't know who was actually in the room with him. As she approached, it was clear he was laying on his side, back to the Spirit Mage.

"It's me, Lucy." She said softly. She could see Natsu visibly stiffen under the copious amount of blankets around him. She sat on the edge of the bed and held out a hand to run over his back in comfort. Her hand stopped as he spoke.

"You're not Lucy, she left months ago without so much as a goodbye." He said coldly. Maybe he really didn't want anything to do with her. But she would correct his statement first.

"I did say goodbye to you, Natsu. How don't you remem... Oh" she looked down and placed her outstretched hand in her lap. The reality merge must have made him forget. Why was Orenda so complicated!!?? "Can I... Can I ask if we kissed?" 

Natsu turned around, now lying flat on his back as he forcefully thrust the covers downwards, exposing him from the midsection up. His eyes burned holes into hers as the pairs connected, caramel brown meeting emerald green. "What do you mean, of course we did!" Natsu raised his voice in frustration. So they did lock lips, Orenda kept her promise to keep that a part of merge. His realty was just different than hers.

"When and where?" She asked before Natsu seemed to fidget.

"Lucy, why---" she cut him off.

"It'll all make sense the moment I explain it. Just... When and where?" Natsu continued to look at her, mouth resting flat, eyes betraying feelings of hurt. Her heart ached as she saw him like this. Hopefully this time together could repair things.

"We were in our hotel room..." Natsu moved his head in a fashion that questioned whether or not he should continue. Her look conveyed that he should. "We were drinking to celebrate our successful mission.... Wait... Lucy, why is it so hard to remember all of a sudden?" He seemed worried, like something important had been removed from him. 

"Just work through it. Focus." She leaned closer to him as he placed a wrist over his eyes, attempting to focus his thoughts.

"Drinking... We got bored and decided to play strip poker or something..." This was the reality that Orenda had brought over? Jeez. "It kinda turned into truth or dare... And on one dare, I can't remember who dared it, we kissed... This is weird, Luce. It all feels like I'm trying to remember a dream or somethin." She leaned in closer as it was now her then to speak.

"A city, Crocus... The Eclipse Gate... A dragon... Pulse..." Natsu's eyes suddenly widened as vivid images matching the words Lucy spoke filled his head. These were like dreams too, but they were much, much clearer. "We were going to sacrifice ourselves so Rogue could escape... Then, do you remember what I told you?"

"I love you." Natsu now elevated himself with one arm as the images continued to pour in.

"And then?" Lucy leaned in even more. They were in dangerous territory now. It was already bad enough that Natsu was shirtless, and now even she could smell the hormones in the air and feel the tension between the two.

"This." Natsu was the one to close the distance between them, his mouth viciously latching onto Lucy's own, sucking on her bottom lip as he rolled her on top of his lap. Lucy deepened the kiss by burying both her hands deep into Natsu's hair, who responded by hugging her waist. He rubbed small circles as Lucy lightly massaged his scalp. He seemed to forgive her a lot easier than expected, but she would listen and fix what was bothering him just moments before at a later time. Natsu broke the kiss and looked at her intensely.

"You've really messed me up, you know that?" Or they could talk about it now, now was fine... 

"What had you upset when I walked in?" She probed, still on his lap, looking down at Natsu who was laying against the backboard to the bed. He placed his hands behind his head, giving her a good look at his biceps before he looked at the ceiling and spoke. 

"I thought I was strong, ya know. I thought I had my feelings towards you all figured out. I loved you and I'd wait till you were ready to come home, even if that was forever. We are kinda connected at this point, after all. Gajeel told me that you and I were likely mates, and I even remember biting you now that those new dream...er...memories are back." This was news to Lucy. What on earth were mates? Wasn't that rather....primordial? "I guess my resolve just shattered when I saw you standing in the arena after destroying Minerva... Part of me wondered if you were over me, and that's why you didn't find me on the opening day. If I had known who you were, I would have moved heaven and earth to get to you. You...you knew it was me and you didn't even try..." He looked towards Lucy, eyes slightly wet, holding back tears.

She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, using her thumb to wipe away a lone tear. Natsu repositioned his hands so one was resting atop Lucy's. "It killed me not to go after you. But I made a promise to Suberashi that I would wear the stupid cloak. I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt this way, or this strongly about me."

"Of course I do! Like I said, we're mated!" He huffed before removing his hand from Lucy's and crossing his arms in a pout. "Do you....you know..."

"Love you?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yes, obviously!" She raised her hands in frustration and Natsu seemed to, thankfully, lighten up. "And what the heck is this 'mated' stuff?"

"Well, Wendy explained some of it to me, Gajeel too... Rogue also... I really should pay attention more..." Lucy giggled before urging him to recount what he remembered. "Uh, basically, there is one person that Dragon Slayer's treasure above all other people. It's someone who destiny paired you up with... Basically a soul mate, but with a deeper connection!"

"Deeper connection, how so?" Lucy asked as she layer herself down, her cheek resting against Natsu's right pectoral, while her right hand was in front of her, rubbing circles with her thumb on his left. He was warm, and all she felt was comfort.

"Well, it's a one sided deeper connection. If you hadn't returned my feelings, you could have moved onto someone else... I would have never been able to move on... Also, I think I became officially mated to you when I hit you while we kissed..."

"So that's why Mira checked my lips..." Lucy thought back to her Magic Playground meeting. "I still have the scars. They haven't gone away, I guess it's my mark linking me to you." She smiled at the thought and closed her eyes.

"Ya, I thought it might scar, even if it was a tiny cut. The mating also has to do with me ingesting your blood or something. Part of you intertwining forever with me... I don't know. I sound stupid. Wendy knows a lot about this stuff. She can paint the full picture for us when we are all together."

"Ya. That sounds good." Lucy responded absent mindedly as she continued to run circles on his firm chest. She moved her hand downward, just slightly, so it was positioned over his nipple. Just the slight difference seemed to cause a silence to fall between the two and after a few moments Natsu spoke up once more.

"Uh. Luce..." 

"Yea?"

"I really like what you're doing with your hand." She giggled. She didn't know comforting circles would be appreciated. "No, like I mean I really, really like it... I'm, uh, kinda getting turned on..." He finished with shame on his voice, his hand coming up and clasping itself over Lucy's, hoping the cessation would calm him down.

"You know..." Lucy thought for a second before finishing. Was this something she could actually do, let alone actually say? But as she looked at the man she loved, she knew it was an easy decision. "You know, I don't have to stop..."

Natsu looked at her, taking in her implication. "Do you..you know... I mean...is 'that' something you'd want to do?"

"With you, absolutely." Where was she getting this boldness? She was thankful it came, but she wish she had this earlier in her life. "Do you?"

"I'm a healthy biologically-probably-20-year-old in a bed with the girl he likes. What do you think?" She giggled again as he hoisted her on top of him, their chests pressed flat against each other, bare skin only separated by the thin layer of Lucy's shirt. "Like now?" Natsu questioned, a hopeful yet reserved look in his eyes. He didn't want to make her do ANYTHING she wouldn't be comfortable with.

"Well, we are alone, I locked the door when I came in, everyone is preoccupied and we won't be interrupted. So I guess now seems like a pretty good time." She finished her statement by leaning down and kissing the Fire Dragon Slayer who did something she didn't expect... She expected a moan, maybe, but not this... "Did you just purr?" 

"Shut up!" He looked embarrassed, completely so, and Lucy just smiled. He might dislike that quality about himself, but Lucy thought it was adorable. She would get him to do it again, all in time. She leaned back down and they continued to kiss.

A few minutes passed and Lucy was completely turned on, and based on the slight pressure against her thighs, so was Natsu. Her boldness peeked through once more as she broke the kiss and looked down towards the pink haired fire mage. "Look, Natsu... I know this should be slow and passionate... But I've wanted this for a long time...and I just..."

"You want me to speed things up?" He put bluntly. She nodded. "Thank Mavis! Sorry, but going slow right now is killing me!" He finished kissing her once more and lifting his hands up to clasp her breasts. She gasped at the sudden, yet very welcome contact, and Natsu took the slight opening of her mouth to slide his tongue in. Lucy felt a brief warmness engulf her as her tongue met his, and if she wasn't so mentally gone she would have realized that Natsu had just carefully burnt off her cloths, exposing the upper part of her body to match his. 

"Natsu..." She moaned between kisses as he began to add friction at their waists. And it wasn't much longer before he placed his hands at the hem of her skirt and pushed down. She allowed her cloths to be removed and responded by returning the favor, his baggy pants easily coming loose and falling off of his hips. It was now or never as he aligned his very erect member with her wet entrance. He was engorged, she was moist, and both were just described by words that I, the author, hate. His head was now probing at her entrance, and he broke the kiss to, once again, make sure everything was okay. "Can I?"

She leaned back down and placed a kiss on his cheek before pulling back up and looking him right in the eye, bringing up and resting a comforting hand on his cheek as she affirmed his question. She leaned back down, capturing his lips in yet another deep kiss as he pushed inside of her.

\----------  
Next Chapter: Lucy and Thorin vs Natsu and Erza  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might not be as good as I pictured in my head, but I hope you all enjoy. I might make it more smutty a bit later, but I'll let you know if I edit the chapter.


	47. Lucy & Thorin vs. Natsu & Erza

Chapter 47 ODAG

\----------  
The Bar Inn   
\----------

While Natsu and Lucy were thrown into the throws of ecstasy, the other Fairy Tail and Suberashi Members were thrown into the trawls of the massive party that raged in the foyer. The other five Suberashi members (Happy included) and Brandish in tow, marched into the Bar Inn led by Wendy, Carla, and Makarov. Wendy was on Es' shoulders, giggling wildly at a joke he had apparently told while Carla and Happy were busy flying around and playing tag in the sky behind them, likely a version of exceed love. Makarov had engaged Brandish in a deep conversation regarding Magical Theory, and the Mass Mage was continuously and respectfully posing her own ideas on the topic. The members that arrived quietly, Orenda, Evangeline, and Thorin were also quickly welcomed into the boisterous hall with open arms on the mentality that if they were Lucy's friends, then they were theirs too. The lights and noise had concealed any notion of the actual hour, and by this time, the night had swiftly graduated into the early morning, and the party was still raging on. 

"So you're a water Mage?" Evangeline's eyes twinkled as she struck up a conversation of similarities with Juvia.

"Yes, although Juvia is no where near as strong as you." She responded humbly.

"Juvia? Who is Juvia?" Evangeline scratched her head in confusion. Her fellow Suberashi members often spoke in tongues; she didn't expect it to happen here as well.

"Juvia is Juvia." Juvia answered matter-of-factly. 

"Oh, I see." She didn't, but she would try to find something else they had in common. She thought for a second, and after a while, she had the answer. The answer was a certain blonde Mage, who was currently no where to be seen, and therefore unlikely to rescue her from this awkward conversation. "So, you're one of Lucy's friends?"

"Well, Lucy is Juvia's love rival..." The blue haired Mage said without much more.

"Love...rival?" Evangeline asked with a lengthy space in between each of the words.

"Yes." Juvia sighed as she recounted endless memories regarding the blonde and her boyfriend. "Ever since Juvia has been here, Lucy has tries to steal away Juvia's boyfriend."

"You're dating Natsu?" Evangeline asked getting more confused by the second. Juvia gave a heart laugh at her question.

"No, no. Juvia knows better, Lucy is using Natsu to make my Gray jealous so he will flock over to her." Okay. Then, this girl was love struck crazy. Evangeline just nodded to prove she was listening as Juvia continued and continued, more conversations spread across the bar. And just as Evangeline was about to excuse herself, her meal arrived, locking her into place. She mentally cursed and braved more conversation as Makarov and Brandish delved further into theirs.

\----------

"I believe it to be noticeable on a relative scale." Brandish speculated as they continued to talk about the magic vessels inside mages.

"How so?"

"Well, you can't feel the sheer magic of the earth, can you? But it's still there. All I'm saying is it's likely that there is someone so powerful with magic so vast, that you couldn't actually perceive it or even feel it."

"I've never considered that..." Makarov admitted. "So you mean to say that there could be someone out there with a magic power so vast, that I could not even feel it. But by comparison, you, who wields extraordinary power, would be able to feel it just as I feel yours."

"Something like that. Let's say that the Transcendent has a magic level of 100. I have one of 30. And you have one of 10." Brandish started.

"Just ten!" Makarov boasted. "I may be old, but I've still got some kick!" 

"I meant the numbers with all due respect, Master. You are a renown wizard, and the number in no way reflects the actuality of your capabilities."

"I was just teasing, child. Please continue."

"Relative to a Transcendent, I am 30 percent; and compared to me, you are also 30 percent. However, relative to Transcendent Theory, you are only 10 percent. Because there is a larger gap, it's likely that you would perceive me as having a higher magical power than someone Transcendent."

"Hm. Do you believe there is actually someone walking around out there with that much magical energy?" Makarov questioned.

"I do. The fact is, by normal standards, you are a top tier wizard. If a transcendent human walked by you, you would just think that they are a normal human. Only anomalies like the Spriggan 12, and well, now Lucy could detect someone with that much magic. But the odds of one of us encountering them are low. Incredibly low. There's a high chance that we just haven't run into one yet."

Makarov looked down in reverence and thought. "Transcendence Theory: someone with so much magical power residing in them that they could destroy even Acnologia with a blink." Makarov looked up to where Mira and a dark haired man were conversing. "Or even him."

\------------

"So." Mira began as she placed two drinks before herself and Thorin. She pulled up a bar stool and joined the God before continuing the conversation. "Tell me about yourself!" 

"That is a question that is remarkably specific, yet incredibly vague." Mira lowered her head in defeat as he took a sip of the sweet liquid in the cup before him. But a glint reformed in her eye as he continued speaking. "Try asking specific, specific questions."

"Okay!" She beamed. "How old are you?" 

"I don't remember." 

"Oh, so you're kinda like Natsu..." She thought for a second before deciding to delve into the juicier questions. "Are you single?"

"My love life died when I did." What was that supposed to mean? Mira opened her mouth to follow up, but sorrow at his words prevented her from forming new ones. 

"I'm sorry..." She started before the doors to the bar burst open, revealing someone they hadn't expected to see. Cana. Normally her arrival would be anything unusual, but as they were at a party with a copious amount of drinking, they just figured she would actually be amongst them. She was panting, as if she had just ran to the bar, and as she placed her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath, the guild quieted.

"It's 7:30, you lazy drunks!!" She shouted as them as she caught her breath. "We weren't paying attention to the time, the opening event is in 30 minutes!!!" 

"Well shoot!" Thorin stood. "Where is Lucy?" 

"Top floor, last door on the right... But I don't think...." Her words fell of deaf ears as he was already gone, his speed having already landed him in the room with the newly formed, sleeping couple.

"Lucy, get up!" He yelled as he used his Will to collapse the legs of the bed. Lucy squeaked awake and Natsu yelped, but Thorin just looked at the two.

"Thorin!" Lucy yelled back as she pulled the blanked above her chest. "What the hell!?"

"The games start in 30 minutes, and I am not incurring another rule penalty. Now get dressed and let's go!"

\-----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

"Hello everyone!" Mato greeted as his hologram filled the center of the arena. "Thank you all for watching yet another exciting day at the Grand Magic Games! Today we have a special event for you! Rather than having an event round followed by a battle round, we decided to combine the two! That's right! Today's event is the Double Battle Tourney!!!!

The rules are simple. Each team will be randomly paired a giant another. At that point two representatives will be chosen from the participating teams and a battle will ensue. The tourney is elimination style, and if your team loses, it's out and points will be allocated respectively. However, if you prove victorious, your team of two gets to move onto the next round and, once again, fight another random team. This battle incorporated stamina with strength, and the team standing at the end will be allotted a total of 20 points! And, without further ado, we will now spin the wheel in order to determine the starting teams. "

The audience watched in awe and cheered wildly as the wheels stopped on a spiraled S followed by a Fairy Tail logo with an A inside. "Suberashi, Fairy Tail A, pick your two representatives and head on down!"

\----------  
Fairy Tail  
\----------

"Natsu. You and me, let's go." Erza brazenly stated as she already began walking towards the stairs that led to the battlefield. 

"Hold on why don't you---" Gray began to protest but was cut off by Erza's signature glare. The glare was so intense, in fact, that Natsu didn't even hesitate to follow her.

\----------  
Suberashi  
\----------

"You and I make the best team, let's go." Thorin pulled at Lucy's wrist. Truth be told, she would be excited to fight them. It would prove to both her and them how far she had come! She followed Thorin to the field.

\----------  
Domus Flau  
\----------

The four contestants made their way to the center of the arena, where Mato stood impatiently. "C'mon." His high voice urged, but Lucy was too far gone to hear his words. Natsu, too. Both were intently smiling at each other as if they weren't about to engage in combat. As they reached the center, their smiles only grew wider and toothyer. 

"Natsu." Lucy beamed, happy to see her whatever-he-was. She wanted to rush and hug him, but contact before the match, other than a handshake was against the rules. She turned towards the other person, nakama, that she hadn't seen in far too long. "Erza!" She cried in happiness, tears now threatening her eyes.

"Lucy!" Natsu returned her greeting with similar energy, taking a slight step forward to go run and hold her. He stopped himself, realizing Mato would have some rule with the contact. Instead, he settled for smiling some more.

"Lucy!" Erza greeted warmly, happy at seeing her long gone friend. She coldly turned towards the fourth party. "Thorin." She nodded her head in a cold acknowledgement. 

"Erza." Thorin nodded back, "Natsu." He also greeted with a slight tilt of his brow.

"And I'm Mato!" Said man interrupted the extreme lack of actual conversation. "Now that we have that cleared up, this is a two on two battle." The audience cheered at his words. "Whoever claims victory in this battle, wins the first part of the tournament set up!" More roars of eagerness. "The battle will begin on my mark, I just need to get to a relatively safe distance...possibly outside of the city limits..." He added under his breath, but the megaphone still made his subtle remark audible to everyone in the stands. 

As they were waiting, Lucy broke the silence. "Erza, Natsu. You both know that I left in order to become stronger, so I could finally fit into Team Natsu. Please, don't hold back, I need to test how far I've come." Her voice was shaking, but they understood how much this meant to her. If they reserved their power, they would jade her into believing something false, and that would hurt Lucy in the long run.

"Don't worry, Luce!" Natsu assured. "For you, I won't hold back. But if I hurt you, I'm kicking my own ass!" He yelled serious. Lucy giggled.

"Agreed." Erza crossed her arms. "Besides, after seeing you play 'cat and mouse' with Minerva, I had no intention of going easy." Her closed eyes snapped open as she finished her response, Lucy startled backwards, knowing that the look was her 'war look.'

"Now, now, Miss Scarlet." Thorin mimicked her cross armed pose. "Why don't we let the children play their own little game, and we can have a duel of our own. We can even make it unique." He smiled with his last word.

"Interesting proposal. I still have yet to avenge my defeat during our first encounter. Did you have anything more to add to our duel? What will make it unique?" 

"I only have the most appropriate of battles already set up for us."

"Will you tell me anything more about this 'special battle' before I agree to it?" She questioned, not totally enjoying his indirect way of talking.

"I'll tell you this:" he uncrossed his arms and held out a single finger, like a mother scolding a child. "This is of the most perfect battle you can imagine!" 

"3." the announcer boomed over head.

"You can't mean!?" Her face lit up in true terror.

"2." the countdown was now almost finished.

"I do, now decide."

"1!" 

"I accept!" She yelled as she closed her eyes and thrust her hands downward. Thorin just smiled.

"Fight!"

Immediately a hoard of staff raced outward onto the field all carrying utensils and cookware, who began assembling and combining items like Legos. Lucy and Natsu watched in confusion as Thorin and Erza smiled brilliantly. 

"Are you glad you accepted?" He questioned without turning to look at her, instead being too caught up the now assembled makeshift kitchen.

"Am I? This is....amazing!" She retorted.

\----------  
Natsu vs Lucy  
\----------

"Wait a minute..." Natsu face palmed. "Are these two seriously about to have ---" a voice overhead cut him off.

"That's right folks! Fairy Tail Ace: Erza Scarlet and Suberashi Member: Thorin, are about to have a 'Dessert Off.' Chapati yelled over the intercom.

"You've got to be kidding me." Lucy sighed. "You guys can't be serious!" She yelled in frustration, but her words reached no one, as the duo was already at their pots and pans speedily baking something that would win over the taste buds of the judges. 

"Haha, you gotta admit, though, that's pretty funny. Whoa, wait, Luce ---" his pleas were cut short as massive black hammer slammed into him, sending him skitting along the battle field like a skipping stone. Natsu regained his balance and dug his hands and feet into the ground, causing him to skid to a halt. As he looked at Lucy, his eyes widened. "Isn't that...?"

"The Holy Hammer? Yes." Lucy answered coolly

"But..but... That's...."

"Ezra's magic? Yup!" She boasted. She was currently using Gemini's Star Dress, allowing her to copy the magic of anyone nearby. There were countless powerful mages around, many she could have mimicked, but Erza's power had always interested her. Now she could use it. "Requip!" She yelled before the hammer disappeared, and her body body became covered in Black Wing Armor.

Immediately, she dashed off the ground, letting the speed in tandem with the wings carry her towards her target, her body leaning forward and her feet hovering an inch above the ground. A sword evolved in her hand midway through the flight, and as she closed the distance towards Natsu, she swung. 

Natsu jumped to the side at the last second. He thought, maybe, that Lucy would hold back, out of friendship, or love... But with that attack he finally realized that this was a test of her true strength, and that she likely wouldn't hinder her power in any way. He would have to attack back, full force. Black Wing Armor was relatively linear, and Natsu could easily eye the trajectory Lucy was heading. "Fire Dragon's: Roar!" He cried as the gurgling sound of fire spewed outward, the wide beam swiftly heading to intercept Lucy. 

Lucy knew what was coming. Years of friendship made him predictable. She planted her right foot forward into the ground, and pushed off against the firm earth. Natsu watched in amazement as she shot up and over the flames, the Black Wing Armor helping her to keep lift, and slow her descent. He had never seen Erza use her powers this way. She mostly zigzagged from wall to wall trying to daze her opponent. As Lucy reached the apex of her jump, she pulled the sword close, wrapped the wings around herself, and twisted her body in a complete revolution. This extra spin allowed her to send her sword flying through the air akin to a kunai. 

Natsu watched as the weapon missed him by a few feet to the left. But as his vision shot back to Lucy from the discarded weapon, his eyes went wide. Lucy had requiped countless swords, axes, and spears, which now hovered menacingly in the air with 'Erza's' telekinesis. Still in mid air, but now falling downward, Lucy just pointer her finger forward, enlisting the hundreds of weapons to shoot forward. She had to be trying to kill him!!

Natsu zipped and dodged and ducked and slid in every which way, maneuvering past the many projectiles that hurdled in volleys towards him. Every projectile that imbedded itself into the coarse dirt of the battle field made his mobility more limited, and Natsu soon had to brace himself to take a hit. Lucy had kept a single blade suspended, with intent to save it for this situation. With tossed blades in every direction, Natsu had no where to move and the only decision Natsu could now make was whether he wanted the next strike to be fatal or not. He settled for the final sword that Lucy flung forward to slash him through his left shoulder. Only around an inch deep, the wound wasn't fatal, but it would inhibit many of his left body based movements. After closing his eyes to wince at and take in the pain, he smiled up to Lucy. Just cause she was strong and basically his mate didn't mean he would stop taunting her.

"Ha, is that all you got Lucy?" 

"Requip." She responded. 

"Huh?" His eyes opened back up and he was greeted by a Lightning Empress Armor clad Lucy falling swiftly back down to earth, the outfit's spear held a over her head like she was playing an extreme version of whack-a-mole.

As she touched the ground, she brought the weapon smacking against the earth. The cumulonimbus, which wasn't there before Lucy requiped, gave off a roar of thunder and discharged a tremendous amount of lightning downwards. That's when it dawned on Natsu that the barrage of weapons, although deadly, wasn't the end to her attack. All the swords, spears, battle axes, and knives were just conductors, just a means for a much more devastating attack. He quickly wrapped fire around himself as lightning engulfed the majority of the battlefield.

\----------  
Erza vs Thorin  
\----------

As the lightning crackled towards Erza and Thorin, the latter took it upon himself to block the invasion, lest their dishes be messed up. With a dismissive outstretch of his arm, and a little willpower, the wave of yellow energy slammed into an invisible wall and spiraled up and around the two, deflecting into the magical protection barriers safeguarding the audience, who all went wild with cheers.

"Thanks." Erza acknowledged without looking up from her cooking. She was so close to completing the most perfect strawberry cheesecake that if Lucy had destroyed it, with her powers no less, hell would have broke loose.

"Not at all." He responded, also without looking up. 

"Lucy's come a long way." Erza pointed out. "In fact, I can't believe how far."

"All that was missing was a little confidence and refinement." He smiled at the memories of their training. 

Erza didn't ask anything further. Like how Lucy became a befitting member of Suberashi, or how she went from an admittedly overlooked member of Fairy Tail to an all out powerhouse. She would rather have this conversation with Lucy. Not Thorin. She still felt uneasy around Thorin, something she couldn't help. She just had this sense of unease about him... Sure, Lucy had become good friends with him, and Mira is practically his fanbase, but still... She was getting distracted. All Erza could do now was focus on defeating him, through baking!! A battle worthy of tastebuds!! And her creation was almost finished, all she had to do was add the whip cream to her strawberry cheesecake to make it just as beautiful as it was sure to taste!!! 

"Thorin!" Lucy shouted in the distance. "Look out!!" But she got his attention too late, something large and heavy slammed into his back, forcing him to fall forward, over the table and onto Erza's half...

For years to come, no one in the audience could ever unhear the bloodcurdling scream that was let loose by Erza. Even Natsu and Lucy momentarily stopped battling when they sensed something was wrong... Really, really wrong...

Erza stopped screaming, but tears still lined her now hand covered cheeks. Thorin had been knocked forward... Face first... Into her... Cheesecake... Erza was speechless, all she could do now was take in the horror that was her now destroyed baby. 

"Erza..." Thorin said slowly and calmly as he pulled his face from the ruined dessert. "I am so sorry... It wasn't my fault, I got hit by a..." Seeing Erza Scarlet this distraught made him at a loss for words too.

"You... You...." Erza tried to form a full sentence, but the horror in front of her was still too fresh. Thorin licked his lips.

"Mhm, well it's pretty good." He said simply. Erza's head tilted forward so her bangs completely eclipsed her eyes. Something inside her had snapped. 

"Pretty. Good." She repeated as more of an accusatory question. 

"Yea, well I mean --"

"SHUT UP!" She interrupted before she continued quietly. "This was your plan all along... Have me pour my very soul, my very essence, into a creation so pure and untouched by the world, and then kill it in front of me."

"Um..." Thorin began to back away. He had never sensed a bloodlust this strong, and it was still growing. 

"I will never forgive you." A sword materialized in her hands, a water God Slayer sword to be exact. "I was willing to allow your abduction of Lucy to come to pass, but for this, I will kill you." Her eyes snapped up, showcasing the full wrath of Erza's malevolence, something very few had come to see. This was the look of war, of someone who would annihilate anything that gets in her way, of someone barely human. She lunged forward, appearing behind Thorin a second later. Thorin grabbed at his side and coughed up blood.

\----------  
Lucy vs Natsu  
\----------

"Well would you look at that!" Chapati pointed towards the continuous lightning that was pouring from the sky, crashing down to and through the earth, and then refracting back upwards to the invisible shield.

"So cool!!!" Jason yelled in response.

"This attack may leave this match to be decided by a bake-off" Yajima spectated. "Still think Lucy Heartfilia is weak, Chapati?" 

"I...I never said that!" He responded as quick as his sudden stammer allowed. Yajima simply nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Hey, but look! It appears that this isn't over!"

On the battlefield, Natsu had engulfed himself in protective flames as the lightning hit him. And while the now cracked field was being tilled by massive amounts of concussive shock waves, Natsu began to absorb some of the lightning. And considering the tremendous amount that was passing him every second, filling up to the point of entering Lightning Flame Dragon Slayer Mode didn't take long. Once ready, he pushed both arms outward, causing his sphere of static fire to push outward, dissipating Lucy's attack by adding heat to the storm cloud. His body gave off menacing jolts of electricity as he spoke.

"C'mon Lucy." He shook his head She stared at him, emotionless and in anticipation. "You asked me to give it my all, did you really think I'd go down so easy?" 

She didn't respond, instead the Gemini insignia resting on her chest began to glow as Natsu began to charge up his attack. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!" Fire glowing so bright everything that else seemed dark by comparison shot out of his mouth at tremendous speeds. But Lucy just raised her hand causing five massive pillars of stone to erupt in between herself and Natsu's attack. 

Natsu's nearly unstoppable attack collided with the near impervious defense and fire and stone quickly began a power struggle. When the lightning infused fire crashed against the iron supported earth, the fire coiled around and in front of it. Rapidly growing in size, the magic built itself up into a sphere. The difference between earth and fire magic was its protean nature. While fire was constantly changing and evolving, much like how Natsu's was spiraling and building more power to crash through the iron rock wall, earth magic was relatively static, it couldn't change itself to stop the build up of Natsu's magic. Once the fire sphere reached an impressive size, it pressed forward, shattering not only the first, but second and third of the five defenses in front of Lucy. And as the magic slammed into the fourth wall, it began forming a sphere once again.

Natsu's dragon roars usually ended when he ran out of breath, so all Lucy had to do was hold out with Jura's magic until he exhausted his supply. She focused intensely on the wall in front of her, adding as much power as she could, however something in her periphery caught her attention. One of the chunks of wall from her defense was flying quickly towards Thorin. If she thought about it, she knew the stone would probably leave little collateral against him, but instinct took over and she called out.

"Thorin! Look out!!" Her message reached him too late, and she watched as the earth slammed Thorin forward and deflected to the side. That's when her and Natsu heard the scream. And good gods was it frightening. Natsu's attack faltered and both he and Lucy looked towards the cries of anguish, not quite knowing what to expect. But, they should have known, based on past experience, that something had happened to Erza's dessert. And it was only a few seconds later that Lucy held her hand to her mouth in surprise. 

Erza had managed to somehow slash through the upper right side of Thorin's torso. The wound was deep, very deep and absolutely fatal to most humans. But Thorin wasn't that, a human. The wound would hurt him, sure, but his status as a god likely made him view the laceration as trivial, and he would likely heal from it in a day. 

"Hey!" Natsu shouted at Lucy, who was seemingly distracted by her thoughts. "Are we going to fight now, or what?!" He finished the question, not just speaking to Lucy, but the other two as well. All Lucy could do now was think how unfortunate Natsu and Erza were to have to now face Thorin. But little did she know, Erza was prepared for such a battle.

\----------  
Lucy and Thorin vs Natsu and Erza  
\----------

"All right everyone!" Mato surprisingly commented from an unknown location. "It looks like the match is kicking off! However, there has been some confusion as to what's happening in regards to the contestant's magic. So we hired a consultant who specializes in observing what's happening! Take it away Rufus!"

"Hello, my name is Rufus Lore, Mage of Sabertooth." The red masquerade clad man introduced, now sitting in a newly opened fourth spectator seat. "As some of you watching may know, I use Memory-Make Magic. And as such, a key component to what I do involves the breakdown and understanding of other's magic."

"That's quite useful!" Chapati edged him on. "Som please tell us what exactly happened in the first moments of the round, regarding Lucy Heartfilia of Suberashi and Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail."

"Very well." Rufus agreed. "Lucy Heartfilia is a Celestial Spirit Mage and somehow she imbued the powers of one of her spirits, Gemini, into her own power stream. The new magic that she gained allowed her to copy any magic nearby. She started with Erza Scarlet's and used her newfound Requip powers to put Natsu Dragneel on the defensive. She not only sent a barrage of hundreds of weapons his way, but also used the metal in the weapons as a superconductor for a lightning based attack from Erza's Lightning Armor. Natsu, however, used the lightning to power up his own fire. When he unleashed his next attack, Lucy changed from Erza Scarlet's magic to Jura Neekiss' powers and put a barrier in front of her. And that catches us up." 

"Jura Neekis! But he's a Wizard Saint! She can even use his powers!?" Jason yelled in question.

"Yes, Gemini allows the user to copy a power that is either equal to or less than that of their own." Rufus answered with a smirk in his lips.

"But... But if what you're saying is true then.... Then..." Chapati tried to articulate what he was thinking, Yajima beat him to it.

"Then Lucy Heartfilia's powers are either equal to, or greater, than a Wizard Saint's'." He was happy for the girl to have come so far.

\----------

"Aaaaaacccckk!" Thorin coughed up blood into the arm covering his face. It was likely from the lung Erza, his opponent, had just taken out. He certainly wasn't expecting her to have a God Slayer weapon, and he certainly wasn't expecting her to move faster than he could react. He reared around and thrust his arm backwards, behind him and towards Erza. A wave of energy trailed outward, causing every ounce of rubble to suspend itself in the air. Erza, however, jumped out of the way at the last second, narrowly dodging weightlessness and subsequently helplessness. 

"So, you are still able to move after my attack. Impressive." Erza complimented.

Thorin, still facing the same direction, hand fully extended to the side from his last attack, simply snapped his fingers. Soon, every stone that was mere feet off the ground slammed back down into earth, each pebble causing a massive explosion followed by a generous shock wave that engulfed the whole arena. Erza was totally caught off guard. The shockwaves, which not only sent Erza flying backwards also impacted the entire audience. While the Magical Protection Barriers blocked magic and debris, it was unable to stop intangible forces, like wind, or a concussive aftermath. The audience was, once again, literally holding onto their seats.

"Yes." Thorin responded too calm for the situation. "But let's see if you'll be able to move after mine."

\----------

"Care to explain that?" Chapati questioned Rufus who looked equally as stunned.

"He, uh Thorin, after making the rocks weigh less than air, increased their weight a substantial amount." Rufus answered, trying to keep his hat on due to the force of the shockwave.

"How substantial are we talking?" Yajima interrupted.

"Substantial enough to where a few foot drop for a pebble was the equivalent of a meteor from space..." Everyone went quiet in anticipation for what was to come.

\----------

Thorin looked at Erza, who was quickly getting to her feet. Thorin just held out his arm and increased her weight tenfold, causing the knight to crash back down to her knees. Using her sword as if it were a walking cane, Erza used all of her strength to stand back up, only managing to lift her upper body off the ground. After hearing her pained grunts, Thorin spoke.

"Hn." He snickered and remembers what Erza had said to him moments earlier. "So you're still able to move after my attack. Impress--." And that's when he felt another shock of pain shoot through his body. Erza was once agin behind him, and this time the lower left part of his torso was cut clean through, blood now gushing out. He fell down to one knee.

Thorin coughed up more blood. "H-how?" 

"Surprised? You let on too much the first time we met." Erza turned around to face her opponent once more, even though Thorin was still kneeling in the other direction. "You're power deals in changes of weight and pressure. This armor I'm wearing is specifically designed to counter those two traits. And in turn, it's designed to specifically counter you." 

Well, actually, her armor was designed to resist the weight fluctuations brought on by buoyancy, and block out pressure changes present in deep sea diving... Either way! This was her Nautilus Deep Sea God Slaying Armor! Erza, sadly, made the mistake of blinking, and in that short millisecond of time, Thorin was now in front of her. Still facing the opposite way, Erza tried to swing for him, but was too slow. She intercepted by an unarmed backhand that gave off way too much power. She was sent flying backwards.

\----------

"Alright!" Natsu yelled at Lucy who had sent a massive earth chunk at Natsu, who narrowly flipped over it. He returned with a massive fireball, that Lucy raised more earth to block. "That's enough! I thought you wanted to show us YOUR new powers, so quit using Erza's and Jura's!" 

Lucy conceded that he had a point. However, she finally and truly understood how Natsu felt, and she finally knew why he liked to fight so much. It was fun! Lucy could have ended this fight instantly. Any one of her super spells would have done the trick, but this was almost like a sparring match, and she didn't want it to end so easily. And if Natsu did want the victory himself, he was going to have to work for it. Not that he actually knew how strong she was, or even how to gauge her threat level.

One thing Thorin had taught Lucy early on was how to suppress the amount of magic pressure you give off. Limiting your aura, so to speak, was one of Thorin's specialties. Aura tended to have traits that reflected the magic of the user. Thorin's was so massive an intense, that if he didn't limit it, everything around him would be crushed. And the fact that it was constantly in check made it a valuable weapon. Like his battle against Fairy Tail, he didn't even have to use an attack, he just had to lessen the restraint on his aura to the point everyone was brought to their knees. It was incredible. And it was frightening.

Lucy's magical aura had come to be known as sweet. While Thorin's literally crushed you under the sheer intensity, Lucy's actually felt warm, and comforting, there was almost an attractive quality to it, a want to be pulled into it. But regardless of how serene hers felt to others, it still could feel overwhelming. Her powers felt like facing a Spriggan 12, who Lucy now closely resembled. The sheer intensity of her magic power usually was awe inspiring and so she restrained it, rather than letting it run loose. 

"Fine." Lucy smiled as her body began to glow, an invisible wind causing her hair and cloths to slightly blow upward. When the light faded, Lucy was dressed in stylish, caramel-brown pea coat with a black turtleneck underneath. She had Star Garbed into her Scorpio Form, after all, sand was a pretty good way to put out fire. Lucy quickly extended her cannon equipped arm and shot a series of large sand bullets at Natsu.

Natsu promptly sidestepped the compact attack but was greeted by a glowing Lucy, who had used the sand as a distraction to close the distance between them. As the light around her faded, she was left in a business-like dress suit. She, with all of Capricorn's and her fighting knowledge, punched forward. Natsu ducked under the swing but was soon kicked by a powerful leg that he didn't see coming.

Natsu grabbed at his side and bent over to deal with the pain, but Lucy grabbed onto his scarf and pulled him up to her level before planting a quick kiss on his lips. 

Natsu realized that, although sweet and pretty awesome, the kiss was probably a distraction. He pushed Lucy off and started his next attack. 

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled as his right hand became engulfed in flames. Much like Lucy moments ago, he punched forward towards her. Natsu thought the their close proximity would make dodging this attack difficult, but somehow, Lucy not only managed to dodge, but she also managed to grab his arm, extend and twist it to the side, which caused flames to sputter out and Natsu to grunt in pain. Lucy, from behind Natsu, still holding onto his arm, swung her weight around and threw him an acceptable distance. However, Natsu was quick to his feet! Before he was knocked down again... This time by Erza who was sent flying by Thorin.

"Natsu!" Erza snapped. "Watch where you position yourself! I'm in the middle of a fight!" She scolded as she tried to get off of him, which was difficult as the two were entangled by each others limbs. 

"Eh whatever." He brushed off before he loudly continued. "Now getoffo' me woudja!" He pushed up, forcing her heavy armor to disengage intensely from him. She, thinking he was trying to start a fight, grabbed his hair and started tussling with him.

"Hey! Would you two quit it!" Lucy yelled as she ran over, keeping a good ten foot distance from the 'teammates.' "Seriously, you're supposed to be fighting us!" They didn't hear her, and they certainly didn't see the development below them.

Cracks suddenly appeared beneath them, and an instant later, the floor just below them caved in. Natsu and Erza were sent falling to the depths below, eyes comically lighting up as they realized what was happening, just like what had happened with Natsu and Gajeel their first year.

"What the?!" Lucy was surprised to see them, she turned to her teammate who was slowly approaching. "Thorin! Why did you do that? 

"Lucy." He said raspily, holding onto his profusely bleeding side. 

"Oh, shoot... She messed you up." Lucy started laughing, knowing, ultimately, he would be fine.

"Crater. Now." She didn't budge at his request. "Please." 

Her hand was set aglow, and she pointed her arm outward to the right, a simplistic yet funny looking cup fizzled into existence. "There you go."

"How are you doing today, Lucy-sama?" Crater asked his master.

"Better than him." She pointed to the man standing at the apex of a long trail of blood. "Can you help him."

"Absolutely!" Crater replied before Thorin walked over and grabbed the goblet. He lifted it to his lips and drunk from its reserves, immediately feeling a refreshing boost of energy. The blood that was soaked onto his cloths magically retracted and entered his body before the two should-be-fatal wounds closed up.

"Ah." Thorin exclaimed as he finished drinking, causing Crater to fizzle gold and return to the Celestial Spirit Realm. Thorin swung his right arm outward, the same way Lucy summoned spirits, and tested his energy. The entirety of crocus felt a sudden force apply over everything, causing water to splash upwards, papers to go flying, a few houses to crumble, and people to grunt in sudden discomfort. But just as soon as it started, it ended. Thorin had easily breached the Magical Protection Barrier, and everyone and everywhere in Cocus, felt as if it has been smacked by a massive invisible hand. 

"Come on." Lucy dismissively scolded. 

"Don't worry, no one is hurt, and I was just testing to see how invigorating that Spirit of yours actually is." He smiled at her while looking as his hand, which had given off the fair share of Willpower.

"Ya, well, you'll have plenty of time to keep testing. Natsu and Erza are probably on their way up as we talk. I wasn't expecting either of them to be this strong..." She admitted, they had obviously been training. Extensively. Natsu had easily broken through Jura caliber earth as if it was nothing, and Erza had gone toe to toe with Thorin. Granted he was holding back, but still.

"Are you doubting our sure victory?" Thorin questioned.

"Not at all." She replied before looking away from the hole to face him before smiling. "Not with the both of us here."

They looked towards the hole caused by Thorin as Erza and Natsu jumped out of it, a new intensity lining both of their features. The battle resumed.

\----------

"Ugh.." Erza shrugged off the blunt of the fall before looking over at her teammate, who was also trying to stand. "Natsu, are you okay?"

"Ya, I'm fine..." He brushed some dirt off of his shoulder.

"We need a new strategy." Erza admitted. "Both of them are too strong to go up against alone. We need to coordinate."

"Ya, I had no idea Lucy would be at this level." Natsu smiled. "You have any ideas?"

"Yes, actually." She requiped a bo staff and began to trace pictures into the dirt below them. "Here's what we will do." They both smiled as she laid out the foundations of their plans before jumping back into the arena to fight.

\----------

 

\----------  
Pergrande Kingdom: Capitol City, Hercules   
\----------

"Zaeoa." The man known as Rune stepped into a circular control room, the dome like walls made entirely of glass windows. "How are preparations? The General and his forces are only moments away from intercepting Suberashi."

"Preparations are almost complete." She acknowledged as she sat down on what looked like the commanding chair for the room they were in. She began to inspect her nails as Rune continued speaking,

"Good, this whole plan involves us delivering the fist blow. I assume your 'toys' are also ready?"

"My toys, as you call them, are a key part of what makes this ship invincible." He continued to stare at her. "So yes, of course they are ready."

"I must admit, the sheer level at which you control Servitude Magic has always been impressive." As he finished praising the woman, a low power up sound ran throughout the ship they were currently on. Suddenly it lifted upwards and Rune had to balance himself. "So it's ready, we are in the air. How long till we reach Fiore?"

"About one minute." She said not looking up from her nails. 

"What? It's five countries away!" 

"You really have no idea how the Starlight Phoenix works, do you?" She finally stood up and walked forward, looking to make sure there were subordinates attending to every function of the ship. "Alright, engage Celestial Overdrive." She commanded.

As soon as the words reached the ears of the control operators, they systematically began to press buttons before what sounded like a loud creaking door blasted in front of them. A circular gate suddenly popped into existence in front of the ship and expanded outward, till it was large enough to fit through. The outer ring of the circle looked like a clear white magic seal, divided into 12 segments, each housing a different symbol of the zodiac. In the center of the gate, porthole, rift, whatever it was, was a very clear display of Domus Flau.

"What?" Rune looked outward in awe. "Celestial Spirit Magic?" 

Zaeoa began to laugh. "No. Still Servitude." Was all she responded before the ship lurked forward, interrupting the battle below.

"That's.....!" Rune looked intensely at the battle between the four at the center of Domus Flau. "That's Thorin!!" His head quickly turned towards Zaeoa, whose head snapped forward in immediate response.

"Fire Jupiter!!"   
\-----------

A rumbling beneath the stone they stood told Lucy and Thorin to expect a turn around from Erza and Natsu. As the rumbling increases, they looked closely towards the hole Thorin threw the two down and eyed it with suspicion. The rumbling seemed to stop momentarily before it emerged again, this time sounding more intense, closer. It felt almost as if something was being charged up and before the Celestial Spirit Mage and the God of Weight could fully take in what was happening, an enormous column of flames intensely erupted from the small opening to the depths below. As the fire spiraled upwards, the sheer power it gave off knocked the two back as if it was a concussive bomb.

They stood and inched closer together and as they regarded the skyward inferno, a large hand like mass of darker, electrified fire reached out of the hole and clawed at the ground. It reminded Lucy of a creature from hell trying to escape, and as the wrist contracted, Erza and Natsu were launched upwards, having been attached to the end of the physical flames. And just as the Fairy Tail team's feet hit the ground, a new wave of fire immediately spread around Natsu, engulfing the entire field in fiery orange. Lucy quickly threw herself towards Thorin and Star Dressed into Aquarius form, a water shield engulfing the two as the harsh flames swept past them, slamming into the Magical Barriers and also rocketing skyward. Erza was requiped into her Flame Empress Armor thus nullifying the flames from the start, and Natsu just stood there smiling. He had entered his Dragon King Mode and the only thing stopping the intense flames from immediately claiming victory was Aquarius' magic.

The very ground had been set ablaze and Thorin and Lucy began to scan everything they could possibly do in order to online attacking. Not only was the new environment harshly damaging, but it also rendered their senses mute. The light given off by the flames already made the arena have a fiery fog, and it took ocular strain to actually see more than a few feet in front of them, imparting their sight. All they could hear was the crackling of flames around them, canceling out their hearing. They could only feel heat, even through the cool barrier protecting them, eliminating their sense of feeling. And the distinct smell of burning permeated their nostrils, making smell a trivial trait. At least they still had their taste, but their current helpless state left a bad one in their mouth's. 

"Use your Gaia Release attack." Lucy instructed, remembering he could release the bottled up pressure from the earth below in a devastating pillar energy, similar to Jura's 'Rumbling Mt. Fuji.' That would surely break through this ridiculous amount of fire.

"I can't." He admitted. "This level of heat is so intense, any pressure based attacks I can do are canceled out. Use The Measure of the Stars."

"For the last time, it's 'Urano Metria.'" Lucy begrudgingly stated before something flashed through her mind. Her spells name was in Latin, old, ancient Latin. But Thorin always translated it to modern day speech. Just how old was he?... "That's too much for this battle. I don't want to hurt them."

"Yes, because this spire of flames shows they have the same mentality." He replied sarcastically in a serious tone. "Isn't there a Mage you can copy that can negate this? Copy Natsu with Gemini."

"I can't do that either." Lucy sighed. "If I star dress into anything else, the water barrier protecting us will break and we will be hit before I can copy anything. This barrier is the only thing keeping the flames out as well as any attack Natsu and Erza can whip up. Remember, it's impenetrable."

"Impenetrable thus far..." Thorin faltered as he attempted to locate even just a silhouette of their opponents, who definite strategize do before they emerged from under the ground. But when he couldn't spot them, he began to anticipate potential outcomes... They were planning something. Just then, an intense wave of magical flames swept past the sphere of water. Both Lucy and Thorin cringed at the intense heat, and Lucy put more magic into the barrier just to keep Natsu's FLightning Flame Dragon Roar from evaporating the water. However, she couldn't stop the water from becoming electrified. If either her or Thorin now touched their own defense, it would be over. 

"Don't touch the water, it's been electrified!" She cried before he could even manage to move. Now, he wouldn't. She continued in frustration. "Great, now we can't even move or attack..."

Thorin looked at his blonde friend before a silhouette quickly came into view. "Lucy!" Thorin yelled as Erza requiped a water sword into her hand and slammed it against the side of the barrier. The barrier didn't give, but it began to bend inward where Erza was now pressing with a great amount of force. Erza was using the magic of her sword to outmatch the magic of Lucy's shield, but Lucy wouldn't give. She immediately put a large amount of magic into the barrier and pushed her arm forward. The water that Erza was touching surged outward, retracting back to its normal spherical shape and knocking Erza back. It was then that Thorin noticed what their play actually was. "Your magic... It's draining...fast. They're forcing you to exhaust your reserves and they're just going to keep attacking until you hit zero. What a plan." He finished sarcastically, was that all he could offer at this point? Lucy thought.

"Maybe, just maybe, you could do something." Lucy suggested.

"Like what?" Thorin responded. "I can't affect Erza on any level with her God resistant armor, and I don't even know what Natsu is capable of...I don't even know what this is.."

"He calls it 'Dragon King Mode. Basically, he just releases his magic pressure in an area around him, lighting the vicinity on fire. Although, it's never been this intense." Lucy admitted in reverence before an idea popped into her head. "Wait! Thorin!"

He looked at her, urging her to continue. "Yes?"

"He's releasing his magic pressure! Just release yours!! If you can't pinpoint them, just hit the whole area!" She urged. It wasn't even an attack, he would just lessen the restraints on his willpower and the area would be submerged in weight. Erza might be able to resist it, but Natsu would be rendered helpless and hopefully the flames would dissipate.

"That would yield....interesting results..." Thorin held his hand to his chin in thought. "Alright, let's do it." Thorin extended his hands down to his sides and widened his stance with a lick of his shoes. The sound alone seemed to echo before the familiar low hum of his power pierced the air. Thorin closed his eyes and visualized just how much he actually wanted to exert. 30 percent should be enough to make an...impactful difference. He immediately jumped from five percent to thirty and the result did not disappoint.

\----------

"Whaaaa???!!!" Natsu cried as Erza finished laying out the foundations of their plan. "You want me to do what!?"

"We will use your tangible fire to escape, and then you will enter your Flame Dragon King Mode."

"But why?!" Natsu pleaded, he knew how intense that mode actually was, and truthfully he just viewed this as a sparring match between friends. An important point worthy sparring match. "It's too much, why would we do that to them? It's not like they're the Spriggan 12."

"No. But with her level of reserves, Lucy might as well be. And Thorin isn't an opponent anyone on earth should take lightly. Get us out of here and release your magical pressure. I calculate our odds of immediate victory at 50%.

"Fifty?" 

"Yes, your Dragon King Mode's intensity will either defeat them or debilitate them. Thorin will be rendered tactically useless as the heat will interfere with his pressure change abilities. However, if Lucy manages to react fast enough, she could possibly embody Aquarius' power and protect them in a water shield."

"And then what?" Natsu quipped. "Last I checked it was a pretty sound defense."

"It is sound at the cost of copious magic power. Why do you think Aquarius always took the most magic for Lucy to summon? All we need to do is continuously attack it, and her magic will drain. Fast."

"Fine. I'll do it, but only cause Lucy asked me to go all out." Erza smiled at his answer as flames bagan to swell around him. Her plan worked exactly as she had described. Lucy went on the defensive with Aquarius' power, and Thorin genuinely seemed unable to do much. Erza had donned her flame empress armor, which nullified the blazing terrain against her, and it wasn't long before she forcefully suggested Natsu to electrify the water surrounding them with a Lightning Flame Dragon Roar. He complied, and as he completed it, Erza went in for another strike. From his spot, cancelled amidst the flames, he could feel Lucy's magic dwindle down as she blasted Erza backwards with a torrent of water. The red haired warrior was right, this was their shot at victory...that was until Natsu heard the all too familiar hum. A hum that signified they were about to get wrecked...

Natsu could tell the moment the hum intensified to a low piercing noise. When Thorin had originally fought them, their entire guild, he released 20% of his magic pressure, so he said. This was more than that, easily. And as the low piercing noise permitted the air, Natsu, and likely Erza, was astonished at what happened next.

Natsu's flames, which spewed endlessly into the sky, began to crash downward, in and upon themselves. The pillar of fire was quickly collapsing downward, and Natsu gasped as his flames seemed to quite literally flatten into the ground. The piercing noise continued to intensify and Natsu called out to Erza as his flames now rested as a 2-d live image of themselves against the floor. Thorin's power had completely flattened the flames, and it wasn't a second later before Erza and Natsu's eyes widened as the entire floor to the arena exploded. As the entirety of the intensity of his flames was condensed to such a small confinement, it wasn't shocking that the result ended in territorial obliteration. 

"Thorin! Now!" Lucy yelled as she charged forward, body glowing in another Star Dress, both the pierce in the sky as well as her water shield immediately dissipating. Thorin, too, took up a run and began to extend his arm to the side, a tremendous amount of pressure building in his palm. 

"Natsu! Now!" Erza yelled at him before she matched Lucy by glowing into a requip, and entering into her black wing form. Natsu decided to finish mirroring their team by building a ball of fire in his hand and sprinting forward. Lucy was now dressed as Pisces, a spear at the ready. Erza and Lucy locked eyes, bent on exchanging blows as Natsu intercepted Thorin's pressure with his flames. All the strikes would converge at once, yet the result would never be seen.... 

Instead a bright blue light emerged from the sky and engulfed the entirety of Domus Flau. 

\----------

"Ugh..." Lucy sighed as she sat up. She remembered being hit by something, but that's all. As she took in her surroundings, she realized she wasn't at Domus Flau any more. The vast water like sky and lush fields which now sported countless flowers told her she was in her Magic Playground. A place she could only go when she was unconscious. 

"Lucy." A calm voice spoke to her, and she quickly stood up and began looking around. It wasn't long before she spotted the only other person inside her Playground, who was standing just feet in front of her.

"Orenda?" Lucy greeted warily. "How are you here?"

"The question should be: What am I doing here?"

"Okay." Lucy sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"Come with me." Orenda began walking towards Lucy, not stopping as her stride carried her past the blonde. They walked a short distance before they found themselves atop a small hill that overlooked a bubbling creek as well al the vividly green fields below. Already at the top was a blanked carefully layer out on the grass, which Orenda then gestured to and spoke. "Sit." 

Lucy complied and made herself comfortable, taking in the beauty and serenity of her Playground. "So, what are we here for?"

Orenda materialized a pot of tea as well as matching cups. As she poured Lucy's, her face grew somber and as she held out the cup and began to pour her own, she spoke. "It's time I told you the truth about Suberashi..." She didn't look up as she placed both hands around her warm cup, eyeing it with intensity. "And it's time I told you the truth about Thorin, and how he came to be known as 'The Walking Apocalypse.'"

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Man Behind the God  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many future chapters have been written.... Exhausted haha. The arc is wrapping up, but just like their 'sex scene' I'll probably go back to this chapter and add more to their fight if you all want. Also, with arc 3 approaching, I'm feeling like it's time for a story description change. If any of you want to help, I'd be more than appreciative haha. You might even get a glimpse at what arc 3 is about ;)


	48. The Man Behind the God

Chapter 48 ODAG

\----------  
Location: Mildian   
Year: C 888  
\----------

"Thorin!" A young girl called cheerfully out to the boy in front of her. The girl was roughly twenty, maybe older. She wore a knee-length white skirt which matched her form fitted shirt, which ended just above the chest. Her arms were bare, yet she wore long white gloves that ended just before her elbow, giving her an overall regal appearance. The pervasive whiteness of her outfit was contrasted by her tanned olive skin, a light brown leather belt, and matching leather sandals. "Where are we going!?" She yelled over the slightly harsh winds that were usually pervasive this high up on the kingdom's outer protective walls. 

"You'll see!" Thorin responded with a bright enthusiasm and a matching smile as his hazel eyes looked back to meet her dark rose colored ones. The girl looked away, moving her blond wind-kicked up hair back into place, so he wouldn't notice her blush. He just pulled her along. "We are almost there, Seira!"

Seira just continued to blush. It's not like her boyfriend was exactly subtle. It was their two year anniversary; dating, that is. He likely was taking her to some special date that he had pre-planned. Although oblivious, and sometimes insensitive, he was constantly going out of his way to do romantic things for her. It was a quality she loved about him, well, just one of the many. Even if he had no idea it was their anniversary, he surprised her with romantic events so often that the two could have easily overlapped. Just like the year before... Thorin had taken her out to a nice restaurant and the two had had an amazing time. In her mind it was a wonderful anniversary and she was surprised when, a week later, he brought her out to dinner again to 'celebrate their anniversary.' She sighed at the memory before taking a moment of nostalgia.

The two had been together for two years now, dating, that is. And everyone knew that they had been the best of friends long before that. They were inseparable since a year after their births, and ever since then had stuck to each other. Even more, they had both held feeling towards each other, immensely so, since the tail end of puberty. The two didn't get right into things, though. With Thorin afraid of rejection and her too timid to confess, they had both dated other people. Thorin with a few girls, and Seira with a few guys, and both overly supportive towards the other's relationship status in an attempt to mask the incredulous jealousy. Finally, Thorin had taken the high road and made the first move, and Seira had been beyond happy ever since. 

Apparently, her thoughts had taken up a decent amount of time as Thorin now came to a halt before her, gesturing for her to take a seat on the smoothed out blanket topped with a picnic basket and various silverware. She smiled and sat after fixing her skirt. They were currently sitting on the upper walkway of the outer kingdom wall. While it had beautiful sights, as evidenced by the romantic view before them, it was illegal to be there; a place usually reserved for guards, who Seira realized she had not seen hide nor hair of. Not that it mattered; passion usually making young couples do stupid things as well as their individual status giving them immunity to most things short of murder. Another thing she suddenly realized was that the annoying winds that littered their walk, or run to their spot, we're now gone. Thorin had chosen a place where the winds broke, allowing them to eat and talk and see the view in peace. 

"Happy Anniversary." Thorin sat down next to her, putting one arm around her shoulder and bringing her into a side hug before planting a small kiss on her cheek. She blushed at the contact and reached out to clasp his free hand in her own. 

"You remembered this year." She joked as she leaned her head against his shoulder. 

"I remembered last year!" Thorin defended. "I just remembered a little later..." 

"You didn't have to do this, you know." 

"Oh I know!" Thorin began to shift, rummaging through his pocket and pulling out a small rectangular pouch. He gently handed the rectangle of the animal cloth to Seira who took it with a smile. Of course he got her a gift, too. "And I also didn't have to do this."

"You spoil me." She began to unfold the pouch and her eyes widened as the pulled out the contents of the gift. From inside the pouch came a beautiful golden key shaped object attached to a golden chain. The top part of the 'key,' the head, was heart-shaped with the top half being comprised of rivulating indents, giving it the distinct appearance of animal horns. The bottom of the heart ended in two swirls that faced outward while the center of the 'heart' was comprised of a milky white coloring topped with a pink 'y' shaped symbol that matched Seira's eyes. The neck portion of the 'key' was simple and extended from the base of the two swirls and led into mirror like frame with matching white coloring in the center. Seira gently held the key between her two open hands and looked at its beauty with admiration. 

"There is a phenomenal artist who designed this piece of jewelry. He also designed and created countless silver pieces, but there are only twelve gold, each unique. I hope you like it."

"I love it, Thorin! Thank you!" She strung the jewelry around her neck and hugged her boyfriend. And for a while, that's all the two did. They laid back and cuddled, just enjoying the presence of the other and listening to the soft noise of the wind. Between the warmth and comfort the other offered in tandem with the all too calming noises of the gentle breeze, the two fell asleep. Neither knew how long they were out for, but a slow and rhythmic thudding caused Seira's eyes to flicker open.

"Thorin." She shook her boyfriend as the thumping continued. He gently woke and looked up at Seira. "Do you hear that?" 

Thorin listened. He now heard it too. It was familiar, like a quicker and more fast paced heartbeat. The steady thudding continued and just a moment later Thorin placed the sound. "Is...is that marching?"

Seira immediately stood and ran over to the ledge that overlooked the surrounding area outside the kingdom walls. She had to blink a few times in order to fully understand what the black spot that marred the earth before the castle was. And when her sensed finally snapped into place, her pulse quickened. Before the kingdom walls, nearly five miles out, emerging from behind the vision-obstructing large mountain of earth, was a massive army matching towards them, and as she focused she could now hear the motivational chanting pervasive in the brutal looking army. "Thorin! Come here!" 

He immediately complied and joined her at the lookout, his heart yielding the same results as hers. "The 'Black Army.'" He said, voice full of fear; watching intensely as the army continued to pour into their vision.

"Where are the guards?" Seira asked him, they should have reported this by now and their own military should have already begun to intercept the threat. Her mother was the general, and she knew without a doubt that she would have already been on the move, especially with the threat so close.

"I sent them away so we could be alone..." Thorin admitted before trailing off. "In hindsight, that was a bad move."

"Very."

"Let's go!" He quickly grabbed her wrist and the two began to rush towards the cattle at the center of the city. They had to inform their parents of the situation at hand, otherwise they'd be overtaken. There was only one problem, however. 

They were further away from the castle than the enemy was from the city.

\----------  
Mildian Royal Palace  
\----------

"I assume you all know why I have called this conference." A man who sat at one of the twelve seats at the circular table announced. He was adorned in regal attire, lots of robes with multiple layers of purple and gold; and the crown resting atop his head signified his role within the kingdom. 

"The Black Army." Of the eleven remaining seats, only ten were occupied with nine of the occupants dressed as obvious upper-class citizens while one woman was garbed in slim fitting polished armor. The armor clad warrior was the one to answer the king. She was roughly forty, with tanned skin and blonde hair accented with pink eyes. Her armor, which was plated and segmented allowing to mobility and speed, housed the symbol for Mildian, a sloped letter M with a thick line under it. 

"General Ireana." A new man spoke up, leaning forward and criticizing her answer. "Surely you should not allude to such fable, lest you've intent to waste our king's time."

"Calm down, Anselam." The King reprimanded immediately causing the scolded man to sit back in his seat defeated. "Our esteemed General, as usual, is correct. Yesterday, the great kingdom of Aurora fell to the hands of very army you claim is 'fable.'" 

Everyone went momentarily silent; looking at everyone but the King and the General, hoping to find unknown answers from others just as clueless as they were. However there were none. "As a side note." One man who remained fat calmer than the rest spoke up. "Where is Thorin? Our king here was quite eager to appoint him to the council and yet here he is. Absent as usual."

General Ireana answered the prude old man. "Today is Thorin's and my daughters anniversary. Surely such a rare and meaningful event should not count against his 'attendance.' She annunciation the last word stressing the sheer lack of importance it actually held. So one of the 12 was missing. Big deal. She had to hold back from scoffing.

"My Liege, rules must mean something to you. Thorin and Ireana should be reprimanded. Thorin for never being here and taking his role as a joke; and Ireana for failing to uphold our just values."

The king turned dark, however his voice remained calm as he regarded the man. "Lord Alloe, let everyone here be witness that if you, somehow, ever find someone to love you, I will allow you to take the day off from council meetings come your anniversary. And you will also show Ireana proper respect by addressing her as either General Ireana or Lady Ireana. Do I make myself clear?"

Alloe just gulped in cowardice before he, too, retracted into his seat. Lady Ireana continued the conversation. "Let's get back to the main issue at hand, shall we? And thank you, Lord Alloe, for that most important interruption."

"Yes. Let's. As I said before." The King began. "Aurora fell at the hand of the Black Army yesterday morning."

"How?!" One voice chimed up.

"How do you know this?" A second questioned.

"Indeed, we have received no official reported from Aurora. How can we be sure that this is not just hearsay?" The eight voice from the group added.

"It is true." The King started. "That Aurora fell yesterday. And the reason behind having no official report was because the entirety of Aurora was slaughtered before they could even think to send anyone." 

"And the only reason we know anything is because of our talented spies." The General finished for him. "However, I will allow our head of espionage to further relay the details that his groups gathered. Lord Seeraiel?"

"Yes General. My spies reported that yesterday at 7:46 in the morning, a carpet mass of individual foot soldiers came into view and began marching towards Aurora. By 8:24 they were at the gates. And by 9:39, the Black Army had claimed victory."

"It took them less than two hours?!" Another voice amidst the twelve asked surprisedly.

"Yes and---" Seeraiel was cut off as the large door that led to the conference room was forced open. As the eleven seated adjusted to the loud bang that accompanied the door, they looked to see a lone man dressed stealthily, and clearly out of breath. It was one of Seeraiel's spies. 

"My Lords." The spy breathed out still trying to catch his breath all the while still showing respect. "The Black Army...It's here."

\----------  
Mildian City   
\----------

"We aren't going to make it." Seira told Thorin as she stopped dead in her tracks. They were now in the streets, running towards the royal palace in order tolerate them to the threat just outside their castle walls. Yet, as the palace sat atop a large spire of earth, and they were currently in the lower, sea level, portion. They were not close. Even if they were at the base of the large spire, there were still countless roads tHey would have to traverse, and by then they would have already been alerted to the threat. 

"Yes we are. We just have to hurry!" Thorin argued but as he literally had to look up in order to see the palace still a good distance away, part of him agreed.

"We are at least two miles from the base, and then add another 30 minutes for actually scaling the annoying streets. By the time we arrive, they will already know."

"It doesn't matter if they know, I need to get you to safety!" Thorin snapped. She suddenly seemed agitated as she turned around and began walking in the opposite direction. "What? Seira, where are you going?"

"Thorin. I'm the General's daughter...and you're the King's son. Our duty is to our people. Im not going to hide while they are attacked." Thorin eyes her and sighed at her empathetic side. It was their duty to protect their civilians. "I'm heading to the front; my presence there can only help to decrease the casualty rate until reinforcements arrive."

"Casualty rate doesn't matter if you die, Seira!" Thorin lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her wrist. 

"Then come with me. Stand by my side and fight with me. We will protect each other and protect our city." She declared and Thorin could only help but smile.

\----------

The duo had arrived at the outer ring of the town shorty after the enemy forces had broken through and immediately engaged in hand to hand combat. The enemies were skilled, barbaric almost, yet both Thorin and Seira had been trained extensively sense they were old enough to walk on their own. They were amidst the most skilled their kingdom had to offer, and hopefully the strongest together would be enough to keep the invaders away.

Cumulatively, they had dropped at least one hundred of the invaders and had even managed to procure weapons. However, with each body that they dropped, they had to move back. If they progressed forward after defeating someone, then they would need to go over the body they left which, in turn, made their retreat more difficult. It was their only tactic to continuously fall back, and the endless amount of soldiers that leaked through the gate continued to make it increasingly difficult.

What started out as an interesting chapter is swiftly growing boring, and soon Thorin and Seira found themselves in somewhat of a time skip. Reinforcements arrived for both sides, and things seemed to lean towards Mildian's victory until the Black Army's Aces came to play. One of which stood twice as tall as Thorin, and with a large backhand Thorin was send flying back. He went to fight once more, but Seira's hand on his chest halted him from progressing. Instead she pointed towards the castle where large columns of smoke plumed up from. With a nod towards each other, they decided to abandon the front lines and make their way back to the castle in order to see the grim events that were likely transpiring within the castle walls.

\----------  
Mildian Royal Palace  
\----------

"You've won." Thorin and Seira overheard the king's voice which originated in the throne room. After making it closer to the palace, the two were shocked to see just how many invaders there were. Sure they had seen a vast amount at the front gates, but based on the amount alone that stood between them and the palace, they likely had other entry points. Rather than brazenly fighting their way to the castle, it was Seira who proposed using the underground tunneling system, the sewers, in order to arrive at one of the secret entrances/exits within the palace. Luckily, for the daughter of the General as well as the Prince, escaping the palace walls as children had been a common goal for the both of them in their childhood. Together, they had mentally mapped hundreds of miles worth of tunnels which now proved useful as they stood concealed behind one of the walls in the throne room. "Just let my subjects live, that's all I ask."

"Why does your dad sound like he is surrendering?" Seira asked as they made their way to a cliche tapestry from which they could look in on the room in order to see the situation at hand. After sliding the jammed and rusted panel, enlisting a loud clunk that surely someone had heard, the two squeezed together to look at the scene before them. 

The King was kneeling, hands tied behind his back while his head and eyes angrily followed a man draped in black. The two were not alone, however, as General Ireana was to the king's left in the exact same position. Thorin placed his hand over Seira's mouth, quieting her shocked gasp and allowing them to take in more details of the throne room. The bodies of the 9 remaining council members littered the floor in an execution fashion while the tall man dressed in black, their captor and likely executioner, was backed by a mass of black garbed soldiers who all cheered at their apparent victory. Thorin and Seira were sickened. And they knew that they, together, didn't stand a modicum of a chance if their parents were already bested. Thorin flinched as the man slapped his father before he spoke.

"How dare you ask anything of me." The man spoke. "Especially if the request is sparing a single soul from the forsaken Kingdom."

"Why?" The King questioned. "What do you have to gain from this conquest?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that some people are meant for greater things." He posed menacingly and rhetorically. "I was one such person. Someone who was born to be a leader and to stop at nothing until I had it all."

"So this 'ambition' is nothing more than you attempting to fill a void?" General Ireana snapped. All this just because he felt like it. There were other ways to be a leader, and yet he had taken the dark path. "Face me on one-on-one combat and we shall see where your destiny lies!"

Seira smiled in joy at her mother's braveness, however her face swiftly shifted to shock and horror as the man simply smirked before running her blade through her abdomen. Thorin reacted quick. Immediately grabbing ahold of Seira and pulling her into his arms and silencing her loud cried with his mouth. She shook in his arms and soon their kiss tastes of tears, but he knew that if they had heard her cry, they would tear down the wall in order to lead them to the same fate. And he would protect Seira at any and all costs. Without her, he was nothing.

"Bastard!" The King spat at the enemy, eyes welling with tears that he would never show. Ireana was his oldest friend, and definitely his closest. In their childhood, they had behaved similar to Thorin and Seira, and while nothing romantic had ever transpired between the two, they were still close. And when the queen had passed away during birth and the general's husband had died in battle, the two would have happily spent the rest of their lives together had their kids not basically eloped.

However, the King's grief didn't last long as Ireana's murderer soon became him. And now it was not just Thorin who supported Siera, but she who supported him as well. And together, they fled the kingdom, hoping that after they had lost everything, they could find their world in each other.

\----------  
Aurora City Ruins C889  
\----------

It wasn't long after the events of Mildian that Thorin and Seira found a small refuge within the now dilapidated state that was previously the magnificent kingdom of Aurora. The once great city, often hailed as the City of Rainbows due to its multicolored beauty, was now nothing more that charred building and memories. The death of the once great Kingdom was only the start of the end. The Black Army didn't stop at Mildian, and as they continued to conquer the world, many people were left homeless and destitute, much like our Prince and his companion. 

However, Thorin and Seira managed to maintain their characters and roots, despite having everything, even their birthrights and future, ripped from them. They held their conviction and integrity, linking their memories and past to the other; most people were not that lucky. In the new lawless and savage world, the majority of the population had soon followed. The once peaceful people of the kingdoms were now nothing more than scavengers, thieves, and more often that not, murderers. That note, sadly brings us to this tale. 

It was May 27, C889 that marked the death of a girl, the creation of a parallel world, and the genesis of the gods. It is here where we find a group of lawless bandits that had stalked Seira home, intent on taking advantage of her beauty for their own sexual needs. 

"Let her go!!!" Thorin yelled as he attempted to pull away from the restraints that held him in place; forcing him to watch as the disgusting men held a blade to his love's throat. 

"Tear off her cloths, let's get this over with." A nameless lawless ordered the two men who were busy restraining Seira. Thorin let out an enraged yell as he saw one of the men place accidental extra pressure against the knife, liberating crimson blood and allowing a small trail to leak down her throat.

"Get off her or so help me, I will kill you!" The once prince promised the five men that were abusing the two. They only chuckled; two of them pinning Thorin on the ground and lifting up his head so he could watch them rape his oldest friend, his love. 

The threat fell of deaf ears and it didn't take very long for the three men, the ones not restraining Thorin, to finish what they had set out to do. Thorin's eyes watered as he was helpless to do anything but watch Seira silently sob through her gag as her body was intruded by strangers. The leader of the men, who had just climaxed, turned towards his remaining subordinates. "It's your turn."

"Er, actually boss..." One of them started, causing the bed to eye the two with curiosity as the second man restraining Thorin continued.

"We kinda wanna have our way with the pretty boy below us." Thorin cringed, but a small part of him was thankful that Seira would no longer be abused, no longer be alone in her suffering and mental scars the situation was sure to bring.

"So, we are done with the girl?" He voiced, and when the men further affirmed he walked over to his subordinate with the knife and took it into his own hand. Thorin didn't have time to process the strike and Seira didn't even have time to scream as the Boss discarded of their previous claim by slashing the blade across her throat. The men restraining the girl dropped her as the jagged knife tugged through her jugular, and as her body slammed into the ground, broken, she used her last moments to make eye contact with Thorin.

Through blurry, watery vision, Thorin watched as the once vibrant scarlet life of the girl he loved leak out on the pavement below them. She gave Thorin one last meaningful smile, and as her pupils dilated fully. His world had died.

Yet.

He didn't feel sad. He didn't feel angry, broken, or lonely. He felt nothing. 

And by some celestial intervention, solely principled on luck, Thorin felt a new surge of energy course through him. The energy wasn't entirely unfamiliar; he had, after all, felt before the much needed release of adrenaline from time to time. Although, this release was different, more intense and vastly so. As the 'adrenaline' coursing through his body increased, any lingering feelings and emotions he held decreased. When they hit zero, all Thorin had to do was look up.

The three men surrounding the corpse were immediately flattened; the only hint of their body having ever been there was a red splat against the pavement. Although blood was blood, Thorin could help but think how their remains did nothing but taint those of the girl in the center. The two men previously restraining him elected to retreat; fear coursing through their body as an unknown power pulsed through Thorin's. He stood, and with a wave of his hand the two rapists erupted into a plume of bloody mist. 

Thorin looked from his hands to the carnage he had wrought. His killing was apathetic and without meaning. He even looked towards Seira, intent on feeling something. Sadness, maybe; love even, but still he found himself unable to feel anything other than emptiness. Yet, at he same time he had never felt more full. But, full of what?

He scanned his mind, and while still no feelings could be found, he did discover one thing. Intrinsic drive. Against Mildian, against the Black Army.

Thorin turned heel, intent on returning to Mildian and enacting his birthright, his Divine Right. He left the ally without so much as a glance back at the girl who once meant everything to him. But, if he had, he would have seen the pendant he gifted to her on her birthday, which still lay around her cut neck, aglow. 

\----------  
Mildian Royal Palace  
\----------

"You mean to tell me that the Prince survived?" The leader of the Black Army who sat atop the Mildian throne replied to his subordinate who had just relayed the news.

"Yes, Your Highness." The trembling savage loyal to the madman sputtered out. 

"Run this by me, one more time." The 'King' instructed.

"A man approached the gates and easily dispatched the guards. He let one live, however, to relay a message. He said to tell your leader to gather your army and meet him on the Eldin battlefield outside palace walls in two days time. That he had raised an army and is challenging you."

The 'King' only smiled. "Ready our forces."

\----------  
Mildian Outer Plains  
\----------

It was two days later, and Thorin stood alone, centered in the battlefield. The rhythmic thud of marching gave way to the enemies presence long before the black mass of their forces filled his vision. Mildian, or what was left of it, cascaded just at the limits of his vision and behind the army that exited it. It was a gentle reminder that just as he had changed, so had his home. 

Thorin waited until he was face to face with the man who had killed his father before he did anything.

"Well, Prince, we are here." The leader pronounced as the army obviously positioned just a few meters from the lone man. "Don't tell me your army is hiding, attempting a pity ambush."

Thorin just looked at him, not quite understanding what the man was accusing. "There is no army, only me."

"You told my subordinate that you had 'raised an army.' And did you honestly hope that, you, alone, could go up against us?"

Thorin didn't respond yet, he just waved his arm and the Black Army fell to their knees; countless individuals shocked and stunned at mysterious power displayed.

"I told your subordinate that I would 'raze' your army. I don't have one on my own. You took everything from me. Now it's time I take everything from you."

"So you're going to kill me?" The leader struggled in pain against ominous pressure. The hum of energy present in the air was a pleasant sound compared to the one of millions of bones simultaneously cracking under force. In one second, the Prince had reduced the enemies forces to just one, and as Thorin walked over to the leader of the once powerful Black Army, he released his weight. Thorin's heavy foot collided with the leader's cheek, knocking onto a pile of his dead soldiers, facing towards the city he had laid siege to. 

"Killing you would be too simple." Thorin responded as he extended his arm towards Mildian and subsequently squeezed his open palm into a fist. The leader's eyes widened as Mildian was reduced to smoke and dust, the entire city having been crushed under a new weight, wiping it off the map.

"You..." The man said afraid. "What are you?!"

"I'm not sure anymore." Thorin decreased his weight and hoisted him up by the neck. He had already destroyed the power-hungry general's army and completely crushed his claim to Mildian. He was without what he valued himself on. He could die now. He started by increasing the weight of just the man's skin, causing it to peel off exposing raw nerves. Through pained cried, Throin increased the weight of a few bones, contorting them and crushing them where he pleased. But the monster who took everything from him and Seira was resilient and as torture did noting for Thorin, he super increased the weight of the surrounding land. The general erupted into a mist of blood, just as did the rapists and as Thorin eyed the monstrous crater his powers had fabricated, he knew just exactly what he was. "I guess, you can call me a Walking Apocalypse."

End of Part 2

\----------  
Next Chapter: x377  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took a while. I wanted this chapter to be perfect, but after a while I settled on bad-mediocre. I'll edit it when I get time, but between school and work and sleep and a newfound romantic interest (which I'm very happy about), I am pulled thin. The saving grace, however, is the next 40 chapters are already written!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both arcs 3 and 4 are completed. Next up is an arc called x377 which was super fun to write. Then after that is the continuation of what transpired on the Domus Flau battlefield. It is called the Tetraforce Invasion arc and it is a massive war haha. The story is off hiatus!!!


	49. X377

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part III: X377 Arc

\----------  
July 7, X377  
\----------

"Come, the lot of you." The dark haired Mage instructed as he ushered five small children through the woods in the outskirts of Crocus, their destination almost in sight. "Quickly!" He added, with an rampant sense of urgency in his tone. The children didn't understand the direness of the situation, they were too young. However, the oldest, tied at eleven spoke up as he moved his pink hair from his face. If the dark haired Mage was paying attention, he would easily see the tired wariness that lined his face. Instead, he was too busy pushing past fauna and foliage in attempt to get to the familiar clearing where their destination waited.

"I'm scared..." The pink haired boy complained, tightly squeezing the hand of the seven year old girl that held on tightly to his own. He had to make sure she didn't fall behind with the pace they were going at. 

"Enough." The dark haired Mage replied strictly before he immediately regretted his tone of voice. While still keeping his stride, he turned to look at the children, a sense of softness, sadness, and care now lining his features. "Anna is already there waiting for us. And we wouldn't want to keep her standing around for too long, would we?"

"Whoa! Why didn't you tell us Auntie Anna was going to be there!? She's so cool!" Another boy spoke up, one with spiky black hair who seemed to be around the same age as the pink haired boy. He turned to the two boys behind him. While the pink haired boy took it upon himself to guide the blue haired girl through the woods, he felt it was his responsibly to safeguard the smallest two and make sure they didn't get lost. The two five year olds looked back towards him and met his gaze. The dark haired youngling held the older boys gaze while the blonde one shifted uncomfortably. His hand unconsciously reaching out to hold onto his friends in comfort. "C'mon, runts. Anna's there, let's speed it up." 

They all continued through the dense mass of trees, and it wasn't much longer before the group of six entered an open clearing. The children all gasped in unison as they payed attention to the massive and intricate door that was placed in the dead center of the field. None had noticed that they had all stopped moving, gawking awkwardly at the device in front of them, until the older male who escorted them to the clearing gently pushed at their backs. Their gazes lingered on the ornate door until a familiar, sweet voice caught their attention. "It's been far too long, everyone!" 

The woman who greeted the was young, late twenties to early thirties. She had clean blonde hair which was tied back into a long ponytail and faced with side-swept bangs and two loose strands on the sides. Her mocha brown eyes sparkled to match the smile she was giving the children, and her cheeks were slightly blush. She was garnished in elegant ceremonial-style cape with a high black collar and a matching key-hole blouse which led into, presumably, a slightly loose silk dress. The pristinely white silk dress matched a majority of her outfits overall color, while the black collar matched the triangular loose sleeves of her blouse as well as her midsection. Where the sleeves ended, mid forearm, they were embedded with gold accents which mirrored the line breaks in the black pattern of her midsection, giving off an overall regal look. The only other color aside from white, black, and gold, was a deep maroon, which graced the shoulder part of her cape, and continued until it ended in a point, mid back. Some would say she even matched the man who escorted the children. His overall black theme juxtaposed by a white sash slung over his shoulder and wrapped around his midsection and gold accents that greeted his collar. 

"Children, go play for a little bit." Anna told them softly. "There's something Zeref and I need to discuss in private." Cold black met light brown, and the Black Mage nodded in agreement. They moved to the edge of the clearing without saying a word, lest the give children hear them with their enhanced ears. "I take it that the Dragon Soul Magic was a success?" 

"Yes, as per plan, the Dragons are now residing in their bodies." Zeref turned towards the large, imposing door, an undetectable emotion residing in his voice as he named it. "Eclipse, the gate to the future..."

"A considerable amount of planning went into this very moment..." Anna responded, trying to figure out what the feeling in his voice conveyed. "Don't tell me now that you're getting cold feet. You don't even care about them."

She regretted the words immediately after they left her mouth. The sad look Zeref now displayed further made her sink inside of herself. "I misspoke. Sorry." She knew the fact was that he didn't not care, but rather, he actually couldn't. The affliction that was bestowed upon him reaped the life of those he treasured. For them, he couldn't feel anything, that was his way of caring. 

"Don't worry about it." Zeref sighed, yet another thing he couldn't care about. "About the Eclipse Gate, have you taken the proper counter measures?"

"Yes." Anna nodded. "The Gate has been inscribed with Age Seal magic. There isn't a force on earth that could even scratch the gate for the next 400 years. It, itself, is in a fixed tempo al stasis that will not alter until it has been opened."

"And what about after it's been opened? What if Acnologia is waiting on the other side?"

"After it's been opened, the magic protecting it will dissipate, the gate can then be destroyed." She knew, as well as he, that the gate should only remain on earth for as long as it is necessary. The device was a powerful form of Celestial Spirit Magic that was given life by Zeref's Black Magic. They knew they were violating multiple magical laws by doing this, however, such measures were necessary if they were to ever defeat the Dragon of Destruction. After the gate had served its purpose, it would be decommissioned. She gave a small smile. "And as for Acnologia, it still has no idea what we have planned, and even if the 400 years gives him enough time to figure it out, my descendants will be at the ready, and I'm sure you'll likely still be around too." 

"I see. You are correct, as usual." Zeref admitted with a slight friendly scoff. She smiled at his comment before replying.

"It's almost time..." She said somberly, noticing the sliver of sun peek through the side of the moon. "Let's go say our goodbyes." 

Together they walked back to the children. The pink haired boy and the spiky haired one were busy bickering and throwing fists at one another while the blue haired girl attempted to stop them, her meek nature preventing her from getting far. The other two sat away from the fray, and the blonde leaned against the Raven as he slightly dozed off. 

"Natsu! Gajeel!" Anna snapped at the boys, who immediately broke apart upon hearing her voice. She sighed. "How many times have I told you both to get along... I guess some things never change." 

"Anna, he called me a flamer! I just had to punch him!" Natsu pointed at Gajeel and defended his behavior.

"Oh yea?" Gajeel replied sarcastically. "Well, he called me a metal face! That's way worse!" Anna just smiled at silly mentality, however it faltered when she realized that this would no longer be a part of her life. She had come to deeply care for these children, even love them. Things would be quiet without them. She had to break the news to them.

"Okay, everyone. I need you all to listen carefully." She began. Zeref, as well as the dragons should have already covered most of the plan, so they shouldn't be too surprised. "You all know that you are our only hope of stopping the evil dragon, right? Well, as much as I regret this, it's time to send you on your way, to a place where you can grow up without fear, and one day stop Acnologia." 

She walked over to the massive gate as Zeref eyed her intensely. With a wave of her left arm, twelve golden keys materialized into the air in front of her, each evenly spaced within a thirty degree arc. She then held her arm slightly forward, palm outstretched, and gently pushed forward. The keys fluttered towards the center of the Eclipse Gate and imbedded themselves into their respective slots. The keys began to glow before the light seemed to leak outward, illuminating the slight crevices the door had, following the intricate patterns. With a low droning sound, a power up noise, the door slightly creaked open, a massive amount of light and magic power spewing from the slight slit. The children all cowered at the intensity of the magic housed within the Gate, however is was nothing compared to Zeref and Anna.

The doors continued to open and the bright light only increased its luminance. Anna, at the center of the light, turned around facing the five dragon slayers, who now all viewed her as an angel. "You will all grow up to great things, and as much as I can't stand the thought of saying 'goodbye,' it's time for you all to fulfill your destiny." She finished as the gates completed their opening. She braved the words; she wouldn't cry now, not in front of them. They were tasked with something so challenging, so terrifying, so dangerous that the likelihood of all of them living was slim to none. They were condemned to sacrifice themselves to save the world. She knew how that knowledge weighed on her shoulders, and couldn't imagine bearing such a burden at such a young age and so full of innocence. These children hadn't done anything wrong, but fate chose them to stand against the odds. She needed to be strong for them, they needed to see her confidence in the situation.

"Gajeel? Wendy?" Anna beckoned them over. Gajeel took Wendy's tiny hand and walked her over to the Celestial Wizard, who smiled at them so brilliantly it almost matched the pearly gate behind her. 

"Gajeel, you've always been rough and tough and you've always put up a hard exterior. For me, find someone who you can open up to, who you can be yourself around. I know that person is waiting for you." She smiled as Gajeel wiped a tear from his eye. He would allow himself a little affection at the departing words. He wasn't heartless after all. He quickly threw himself into her arms before going to stand a few feet from the wall of light, which he now eyed hesitantly. "You're free to go in. I've had a wonderful time knowing you... Oh! And keep up the music! I'm sure you'll be great!" Without looking back, Gajeel smiled and his features turned confident. Without hesitation he stepped through the light, never to be seen again in this lifetime. Part of Anna was crushed, and she still had four more goodbyes to get through, starting with the only girl of the group.

"Anna..." Wendy said throwing herself into the blonde's arms, tears leaking down her face as she sobbed into her shoulder. "I don't...I don't want to go!" 

Anna was sympathetic, SHE didn't want the girl to go either. But at the rate Acnologia was reaping power, they didn't have a choice. She stroked the girls hair as she spoke words of confidence. "Wendy. You have to go... Who else is going to watch over these rowdy boys and heal them when they get into trouble?"

"No one..." She replied meekly.

"Yes, only you, sweetheart. I know it's hard to say goodbye, but we've had fun together haven't we?"

"...yes...I'm just going to miss you, Auntie... You won't be on the other side!!" She continued to sob.

"I know, Wendy. It's challenging; but overcoming challenges is what's going to make you walk amongst the best of us. I believe you will rise to great things. No. I don't believe. I know. You are strong, and confident at times, and caring. On the other side of this gate will be one of my family. They may even look like me, and I know they will take care of you. Now, it's time for you to go. I can only keep Eclipse active for a short while more, and I still need to say more goodbyes."

Wendy looked up at her eyes, the tears now stopped. She turned around to Sting and Rogue who were inching closer to Anna in order to say their goodbye. Sting held out his hand and grabbed onto Wendy's. "Don' worry, Wenny." Sting voiced her name incorrectly with happiness. "Rouge and me will walk through with you."

Anna looked at the small boys with admiration. The youngest of them were the bravest... She pulled the boys into a hug and kissed their heads. "Sting, Rogue... If there's any words I can part to either of you, it's going to be these: stick together. You two have a very special bond that not many people get a chance to have. You're lucky. Keep in mind that there will be times you feel alone, alienated; Just know you two have each other, and that you will always have each other." The boys looked at her with warmth in their eyes before they moved to opposite sides of Wendy, each one grabbing at one of her hands. She smiled down at them as they smiled up to her, and together they moved towards Eclipse.

"Goodbye, Anna!" Wendy yelled back.

"Anna! I'll miss you!" Sting cried.

"Bye, Anna." Rogue stated.

"Goodbye, Wendy, Sting, Rogue. I will deeply miss you all." She was dangerously close to breaking now. Activating Eclipse was less taxing than saying goodbye to these children. At the last possible second, she thought of one last piece of advice for the blonde boy. "Oh, and Sting! Never give up! Not when it comes to anyone or anything!" The boy smiled before he, Rogue, and Wendy stepped through the brilliant light. Another piece of her felt like it had been killed, but the prospective idea of them entering a better era filled her with a small amount of hope. She turned to Zeref, a smile on her face. "They're so gay for each other." Even the Black Mage smiled at her comment while she beckoned the last Dragon Slayer forward. 

"Natsu." 

"Anna."

Both looked at each other stoically for a brief moment before the both of them broke at the same time. Anna kneeled down and swept Natsu up into her arms, tears now spilling down her cheeks into his hair as he stopped into the upper part of her shirt. Out of all the children, she would miss Natsu the most. Natsu was the oldest, and he had accepted his duty. Anna was far older, and she knew hers. It was her own damn fault that she became attached to the kids. However, they both just needed a moment to hold each other and cry their hearts out. And until Natsu was ready to leave, she would hold open the gate. They didn't need to exchange words, they knew how the other felt solely from the intensity of their hug; every ounce of emotion easily conveyed in the embrace. They stayed like this for a few long moments before Natsu was the one to pull away from the hug. Anna looked at him with red eyes as he wiped away the last of his tears.

"Don't cry for me, Anna!" Natsu said confidently as he moved towards the eclipse door. "The others are going to need me over there; it's my responsibility to watch over them, right? Plus, I am the strongest." He voiced as Anna stood up, now wiping her own tears from her face; her usually creamy skin around her eyes now stained red from crying. She couldn't help but smile and laugh at his confidence. 

"You're right, Natsu. Igneel, Zeref, and Myself have placed a great deal of trust in you. Make us proud!" She noticed the subtle way he looked over to his brother, seeking some type of affection from the man before he ventured into the uncharted, the unknown, the beyond. Zeref forced himself to look away and Anna went to comfort him instead. "Don't worry about him, Natsu. He loves you and is going to miss you."

"No he doesn't, and he won't... He never shows anything."

"One day, you'll understand. He has to be that way in order to be with you. Just know that 'that' is how his love looks. I know how much he actually cares about you, and you trust me, don't you?"

Natsu smiled at her, and then at Zeref. "I do. And I love you too, Zeref." He turned hesitantly towards the Eclipse Gate. "The others are waiting, and Gajeel's already beaten me there!! Goodbye, Anna. I'll see you later, Zeref!" He voiced as he too, stepped into the light. Anna began to sob even further, the gate slowly shutting as she did so.

"Now, that's hardly fair." Zeref walked over to where Anna stood and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He could feel her body wretch in sadness under his touch and he knew how deeply the children's departure had been on her. They might have been orphans, but they had their Dragon's in addition to her. She was a foster-mother of sorts. The Eclipse Plan wasn't made overnight, and in the few years it took to perfect, she had become emotionally attached to them. Anna wiped the last tear from her cheek, indicating she had finished her outburst. "You can freely express how you feel, yet I, as usual, have to keep my emotions in check."

"I believe the hardest part is knowing that they won't even remember us when they reach the other side..." She admitted as the Eclipse Gate sealed itself for almost half a millennia. The light died down from the door and contracted back into the keys, which immediately fizzled back to her pocket dimension.

"The memory altering was designed so they wouldn't feel like outcasts once they reached the future. There is no longer a need to worry, Anna. You've done your part. You're a phenomenal Mage, but there isn't anything more you can do for them."

Anna turned away from the Eclipse Gate to fully face Zeref. "Actually, there is. Don't tell me you've already forgotten." She took a few paces towards the man, only a few inches now separating them as her eyes narrowed. "I help you with a the Eclipse Project, and in return, you help me with mine."

Zeref snickered. "You Heartfilia's and your contracts... I had almost forgotten." His eyes snapped to hers, anger lining his voice. "Forgotten, that is, that the whole reason you helped with Eclipse was for naught but selfish gain..."

"Don't be a prick, Zeref." She turned away from his accusation. "What I need is hardly selfish... What I require you to help me with is nothing short of ensuring that those five children actually have a future to arrive in." Zeref took in her words. What exactly did she mean by that? 

"Actually have a future...?" Zeref repeated her words as his eyes followed her pacing body with suspicion. Anna was always one to be sharp with her words. Her words had bite, has venom. And everything she said ran deeper than the fangs of her words could reach. "What do you know that I don't?"

She responded with a question of her own. "What do you know of the Dodici?"

Zeref smiled at the silly question and outstretched his arms in a shrugging gesture. "The 'Heavenly 12?' Seriously Anna, I thought by now you'd have stopped asking me trivial Celestial Spirit questions. It is nomenclature for the Gold Key's of the Ecliptic." 

"I remember when I used to think that, too." A small smile tugged at her lips from the nostalgia, but it quickly faltered as she, once more, turned to face Zeref. "The Dodici, the 'Heavenly Twelve,' doesn't reference the Zodiac... It alludes to a council of twelve gods."

"Gods?" Zeref all but gulped at the notion. 

"The twelve strongest, most feared gods in existence, to be precise." Anna remained emotionless and Zeref, for the first time since the gift of immortality, began to panic. With a deep breath, he steadied himself, once more gaining composure. 

"Any notions, any preconceived plans you have regarding the Gods..." Zeref looked her dead in the eye. He knew the ramifications of meddling with and angering the divine. And, if Anna didn't stop, she would surely garner the less than wanted attention of one of them. "Abandon them." He turned around from her a d began to walk away. By leaving, he would save her in more ways than one. However, he was startled as he looked back up to see Anna standing with her arms crossed in front of him, heel tapping. His eyes widened. She was apparently fast...incredibly so.

"Don't you dare think that you're getting out of our contract so easily, Dragneel!" She lunged forward and snatched up a fistful of his black shirt. She pulled him close before she continued to raise her voice at him. "Your magic. It's the result of Ankhseram, is it not?"

"Yes." He admitted as he forcibly removed her clenched fist from his shirt.

"Suddenly your lack of faith makes sense. Although you can't be truly atheist, can you? You know they're out there and your magic makes you connected. And I need your help to find them."

"And why should I help you find them?" He posed rhetorically. She had enlisted far too many emotions inside of him, and he could feel his magic about to snap. She was in dangerous territory now.

"Aside from the fact I just helped you with a plan that will defeat your enemy and you should help me defeat mine?" She mirrored his rhetoric. 

"Acnologia is your enemy, too." Zeref reminded her.

"He was once my friend. It still feels like betrayal to me!" She was now the one who needed to calm down. Zeref suddenly felt bad inside. He knew, well, the relationship that spanned between Acnologia and the woman in front of him. He also knew how horrible it felt to constantly loose those around you. While Anna would never feel the same level of anguish that Zeref continuously felt, she still had to deal with loosing someone she loved to the prospect of power. Losing someone you loved was something Zeref wouldn't wish on anyone; and yet he still sought out the Celestail Spirit Mage and asked for her help in bringing down the person she loved. Of course the situation still bothered her... He watched her take a deep breath before she told him of the true reason why he should assist her. "The Dodici are planning something. Something big. And unless we stop them, there will be no future for your little brother to walk out too."

Zeref softened. "How do you know all this?"

"As a Celestial Spirit Mage, I chart the stars and study the relative effect they have on our daily lives." She looked up towards the now dim sky, attempting to make out a spectacle of light. "In a few hundred years, all the planets in our solar system will align in an event called Harmonic Convergence. It's a rare event that only happens roughly every 10,000 years. As beautiful a name Harmonic Convergence is, everyone knows the last one as the Extinction Event." 

Zeref's eyes went wide. This was a farfetched notion. The Extinction Event was the name given to a unknown force that left earthland in rubble and ash. Only 10% of the world's population survived the force and those select few were forced to rebuild the world. There wasn't much documentation of this, as it happens in ancient times and was regarded as myth. But, the silver-lining, according to myth, was the birth on the One Magic... Catastrophe gave birth to something pure. That, however, was just one theory amongst many. 

"10,000 years ago marked destruction of earth and the birth of magic; and I also believe that another 10,000 years before that marked another planetary reset as well as the origin of the Gods."

"So what?" Zeref questioned. She had to be mad to make sense of this. "So you believe an orbital alignment will just demolish the earth and force it to start over?" 

"No." She defended. "I'm saying the very event which gave birth to the gods also empowers them greatly. The resulting power surge is what gave them the ability to destroy earth. Harmonic Convergence is a beautiful event that's power was twisted. I believe that Harmonic Convergence gave power to the gods 20,000 years ago, then blessed us with magic 10,000 years ago. It was the gods, the ones who use their power malevolently, that destroyed the world."

"That's quite a long shot." Zeref wanted to believe her, but his mind made him play devil's advocate.

"Maybe." Anna admitted with a slight chuckle. "But the stars speak for themselves. Using basic astronomy in conjecture with math, the last Convergence aligned in a similar time to that of the Extinction Event. And the one before it corresponded greatly to early drawing and depictions of a few 'people' having supernatural abilities. It was also the time religion began to form. Whether the alignment was purely coincidence with those events and documentations, or actually a cause, I can't say for certain. And, mind you, though, that 20,000 years is just a pretty picture. The Harmonic Convergences occur ROUGHLY every ten, meaning some could come at 7,000 and others, even, at 15,000.""

"And what can you say for certain?"

"That the next Harmonic Convergence is approaching, rapidly." Zeref's pulse quickened. "Not in my lifetime, however. But, definitely in your infinite one as well as Natsu's, Wendy's, Sting's, Rogue's, and Gajeel's. The Eclipse Gate is set to open on July 7th, X777 at 8:17 pm. That is when your brother and the other Dragon Slayers will once again enter the world."

"And when will next the Harmonic Convergence occur?"

"X795." 

\----------  
Next Chapter: Zeref Dragneel  
\----------


	50. A Dragneel's Demons

Chapter 50 ODAG

\----------  
July 9, X377  
\----------

After Anna had revealed the jarring news to her immortal companion, he had left in a fury, denying that 'such skepticism and tribulation was naught but naivety.' He immediately wrapped himself in his black magic, causing a sphere of miasma to form around him before it shrunk to the size of a grain of sand and disappeared. He had teleported away from his problems rather than face them; but such is to be expected from someone who has been riddled with troubles most of their life. He confronted everything he could, but when an impossible challenge arrived, he bowed out. So Anna believed.

She was currently residing in Crocus, having rented herself a nice little apartment that was right above a beautiful cafe. The cafe was peaceful, not too many people came. It was located just outside of Crocus University limits, and as such, most their customers were either cute young couples on a date or groups of bantering scholars. Anna had picked up a lot of information having eavesdropped on many of them. However she shied away from 'overhearing' anything pertaining to the young couples for a few reasons. First and foremost, they were on a date, a private event. This was a place for them to escape their stresses and troubles and just bask in nothingness with the person that made them happy. For some, even just escaping with a significant other was challenging. It would be wrong and insensitive of her to impede their romantic transactions in any way and Anna wouldn't interrupt that form of sanctity. The other reason was a little more personal. Jealousy. Not that she would ever label it as such. Never. The fact was, she was still heartbroken. She had lost the love of her life to power and it was silly of her to believe him when he had said he could keep both. Power polluted his mind while it filled her with loneliness. She absent mindedly continued to stare at an adorable young couple, and only when the jingling of bells signifying that the front door had opened did she snap out of her trance. 

Coming through the door was a young man with pale skin, dressed in black and garnished with a white sash. It could have been her imagination, but she swore she saw him smile as he walked over to her table. She took a nonchalant sip of her tea before she spoke devoid of tone. "You're back."

Zeref stood for a moment more before he placed two hands on the chair in front of him. He didn't speak, but as their eyes locked, there was a sense of questioned permission. With an accepting wave of her arm, he pulled the seat out and sat down. And as she laced her fingers together, elbows on the table, and leaned forward in curiosity as to his sudden presence; she realized, now, that it could seem like they were on a date. "Why are your cheeks red?" Zeref pointed out the sudden rosy tone her face had taken.

"How did you find me?" She now leaned back and crossed her arms, immediately changing the topic and adopting a much more formal position than the one prior. 

Zeref definitely smiled this time. "Your magic pressure is unique, and, well, anything but subtle." Anna quietly reduced the amount of magic output she was giving off. It wasn't much, for her, but it was obviously able to be tracked by a sensor type like Zeref. He was likely restraining his too, indicated by the people that weren't staring at him and whispering due to the ominous feeling. Anna placed her hands on the cooling, Chinese-styled tea pot and slid it towards the immortal, also offering him a porcelain mug. He gladly took the handle and poured himself a cup before once more speaking. "And, also, I've had time to think."

"Have you, now?" Anna asked before I crossing her arms and placing them on her lap. When he nodded in affirmation, she posed another question. "And what have you thought about? The Harmonic Convergence, I hope."

"The Harmonic Convergence, yes. My limitless amount of time. My sense of meaning in this world. A lot of things, actually." 

"That still doesn't explain why you sought me out." She pointed.

Zeref sighed. "As always, Anna... You certainly don't let the suspense build, do you?" When she continued to stare at him, he elected to continue his reasoning behind his visit. "As it stands, I am both blessed and cursed with Ankhseram Black Magic. It has given me unlimited time here on earthland, at the cost of my humanity. I no longer see things as others do; my morality has become clouded by contradictions. Nevertheless, as much as I don't view good as good, or bad as bad, I still feel compelled to do right by the world. But I suppose 'want' isn't a proper use of words as I no longer feel even that. It is almost like I know what I should do...if that makes sense."

Anna was speechless. She knew how the Curse of Contradictions worked, but she had no idea it affected his to such a level. His randomness giving her no clue as to where the conversation was heading. He continued to speak. "I do like my magic, and with it, I will help you track down the Dodici. Besides, if we do manage to find them, perhaps we can force Ankhseram to lift the curse upon myself. After all, it is a burden to live with a magic that you can't stand."

"So you're agreeing to join my group?!" Anna asked hopefully, knowing full well he could say something entirely different than he had intended. Confusion took a form on her face, mirroring the expression Zeref displayed when she posed her question. 

"A group?" Zeref sounded troubled, and genuinely concerned. "You didn't say anything about a group... I can't be around people, Anna."

"Calm down..." Anna said in an elevated hushed tone, her warm steady hands reaching out to firmly grasp and comfort his own cold, shaking ones. "There is NO group...yet..."

"Yet." Zeref repeated the key word in a scoff. He would no longer surround himself with people he knew he would ultimately lose. He had come to care for Anna, that much was clear to him. But for his sake and hers, he would keep things as platonic as possible. He could be around Anna, with the light and power of her magic constantly fending off any black death miasmas, she was safe. And as long as his feelings towards her didn't escalate, as his powers of evil grew exponentially against love, she would be fine. It's not that he had outright feelings for her, but the safety of her magic against his had the potential to give him a false sense of hope that he COULD fall in love with her and that she would remain alive. He wouldn't risk it though, and He definitely couldn't promise protection to anyone else. He made to stand, but Anna's hands seemed to hold him firmly in place.

"Did you honestly believe you and I alone could rival the Dodici?" She asked sweetly in a smile, like a mother or sister would after seeing their baby or brother do something silly. He felt compelled to listen further. 

"To be honest, yes. You and myself rest upon the top of the Magic World. Right there with Acnologia." He didn't miss the way she cringed at the name. "And I don't believe you intend to add him to the 'group.' As it stands, you and I are the only ones who even have a modicum of a chance at taking them on."

"Two things." Anna started, looking deep into his eyes, hopeful blue meeting worried red. "First: you're wrong."

"What?" 

"I've spent some time searching for people of our caliber. There's Acnologia, sure. But there are also two more phenomenal mages this world has to offer that would supplement our strength, greatly so."

"And you believe that us four can rival the strength of the twelve most powerful gods. I hate to say it, Anna, but evaluation of ourselves being equal to three gods is rather pretentious." Anna just smiled.

"I don't believe that." She admitted. "And that brings me to point number two: We only need to take down one god." Zeref's eyes narrowed in speculation. What was she getting at now? And as if she had heard his mental question, she supplemented further. "Through all of my research, I have deduced the identities of eleven gods that reside on the council. It's rather common knowledge actually... All I had to do was track down highly popular religious groups and figure out which divine they payed homage too."

"It makes sense. The strongest of the gods would likely have the most supporters." Zeref fueled. Maybe she was onto something...

"Yes. For instance, there is a group that is constantly at odds with others, always engaging battle. They pay devotion to the God of War. And another, who is highly polyamorous and sexual in nature gives their regard to the Goddess of Love."

"I see." Zeref wanted her to continue, still not fully understanding how stopping just one god would stop another Extinction Event. 

"Yes, but I've only accounted for eleven... There is a twelfth. But I have a theory on him and why he resides in the shadows..."

"Illuminate me." Zeref juxtaposed, his hands lacing together and propping against his mouth, curious eyes lingering on the beautiful girl before him.

"Well, all other groups, every single one, all believed that their god bowed to an even higher power and respected that power with utmost reverence."

"So, you're saying that the twelfth god is the leader, and he's the only one we need to stop." Zeref surmised. If what she was saying extended beyond theory, then she was correct. He would be the only one they needed to engage. Especially if he instigated the first Extinction Event... 

"That's exactly what I'm saying...." Sadness seemed to grace her features. Grace was the only way most Heartfilia's seemed to do things, so it seemed. "But he's still a mystery. He's kept himself hidden well throughout the last 20,000 years..."

Even Zeref found himself disheartened, but he still retained hope. "Do you have any leads?" 

"Actually," Anna smiled a brilliantly, her teeth as white as the stars represented in her magic. "I do have a lead, and it also happens to be where one of our two powerful candidates lives!" 

"Oh?" Zeref felt a wave a relief wash over him.

"Yes. There is an ancient tribe of people who call themselves 'Nirvites.' I believe they worship the final god, and they believe in finding a spiritual plane of peace; transcending to that state and leaving the weight of all earthly attachment behind. Our first member just so happens to be a Nirvite."

Zeref all but faced palmed. "Aren't they an incredibly secretive group of people who only trust other Nirvites? And you, somehow, think a zealous, devout member of a religion believing in a certain god is going to help you in defeating said god?" The questions oozed rhetoric, but Anna answered anyways. 

"Well, I believe once he knows the truth, he might see our stance on the topic!" She beamed.

"You don't even know the truth! Just hearsay, theory, and speculation! He isn't going to change his believes, his lifestyle, just because some pretty blonde shows up! Anna, I don't think--"

"Look, I know you don't have faith in anything, and for a good reason... But please, try to have some in me." Her eyes portrayed pleading as she looked into his. He could tell this was serious to her. And as he promised to assist her, it was important to him too. It wasn't hard for Zeref to turn his frustration into happiness, her magical aura had that effect on people after all.

"Alright, Anna. I'm sure if I spent as much time on this as you have, I'd believe the same. I'll stop questioning. From here on out, I'll believe in you." She responded with a small smile and bowed her head as she blushed before Zeref contradictory asked a question once more. "What can you tell me about the man you want to join our team... Or the other for that matter?"

"Well, the 'other' member is young woman who is, perhaps, heralded as the greatest warrior of all time. As for the man we are going to see, Roubaul. He is a powerful, powerful individual who specializes in Illusion-Make Magic."

"Illusion-Make?" Zeref asked with uncertainty, having never heard of the magic before.

"Basically, he can create illusions, intangible objects based on whatever he can think, and subsequently give them form; bring them into existence."

"So, it's like Arc of Embodiment? The ancient Lost Magic." Zeref clarified.

"Somewhat." Anna answered before elaborating further. "Only there are no primordial risks associated with Illusion-Make, and it's also not limited to physical alterations or attacks. Illusion-Make has the potential to be anything, or even mimic anything."

"Well, then. I can see why he is considered powerful." Zeref smirked. 

"Yes. And his genius is also something unparalleled. I can sit in this chair day in and day out and listen to fantastic minds belonging to amazing scholars." Anna gestured to a group of three studious college aged males who, rather than speak of debauchery, seemed to talk about the psychological effects of magic. They were smart and definitely knew their stuff. "But nothing they can say or will ever do can compare to Roubaul. His creative mind rivals even yours."

Zeref smirked. "His mind is undoubtedly better than mine, I've only accomplished the trivial. All I've managed to do it breath life into books to restore Natsu, creating the Etherious, and that was only after I was cursed. And you were primarily responsible for the Eclipse Gate; creating the algorithm using the relative time paradox existing between the dimensions was all you."

"E..etherious?" Anna repeated the word, unsure of what it meant.

"Oh, do you not know?" Zeref's lips formed a small smile, now it was time to tell her something. A portentous feeling suddenly crawled over Anna's skin. "The Etherious, or as the world will come to know them, demons, are a series of creatures I breathed life into. It was my all part of my first attempt to bring Natsu back to me. All I needed to do was write a book, a grimoire, depicting their appearance, personality, and powers in word form. Then I just animate them and give them life. Each one was a step up and another attempt to get the process perfect for Natsu, and ultimately, proved quite useful. Finally, after I created an Etherious named Mard Geer, I was able to bring Natsu back as one of them. His personality, memories, appearance, all the same. Granted, I had kept his body for that very reason, and all I had to do was link him to his, book. Each Etherious also was designed with a secondary purpose: to kill me. I never wanted to be immortal forever, and the power I gave them expands beyond just magic. They are quite a complex and impressive creation." 

Uncertainty filled Anna. She knew very well how much and how far Zeref went with his experiments in order to bring Natsu back. But hearing just how sinister some of them were was always a little troubling. Zeref's ominous and tragic background was a part of him, and Heartfilia's had the habit of accepting all of someone. Anna knew that he only went to such measures because of how much he loved his brother. He was willing to sacrifice himself, his own humanity, to get him back. Part of Zeref must have felt like it was he who had deserved to die instead of Natsu. But one thing about what Zeref said didn't quite sit well with Anna. She was under the impression that EVERY invention the black wizard had brought into existence had been for the sole purpose of reviving little Natsu. "What do you mean by 'a secondary purpose: to kill you?'"

"I mean just that." Zeref stated. "All of my inventions, actually, had the primary function of resurrecting my dear little brother, while all of them also housed the ability to, hopefully, kill me."

"And what about the Tower of Heaven?" Anna responded and Zeref's eyes widened.

"How do you know about 'that?'" 

"I didn't." Anna smiled deviously. "Until just now, that is. I had heard rumblings about the start of something being built that closely matched your preliminary thesis about resurrection at University. Although, something that massive has to take a lot of time to build, no?"

"Time is the one commodity I have, Anna. And yes, even the tower has potential to kill me. As it can bring someone back to life, that someone will have power that comes from death. And power that comes from death has the potential to kill me; just as do the Etherious."

"And as for Eclipse?" Anna was still trying to believe her friend, yes friend, wasn't suicidal.

"It isn't a stasis chamber, as I led you to believe..." Anna's eyes seemed to light up with hurt and betrayal. "It isn't a one-way door, but rather a two-way. Just as we can jump to a preset time in the future, so can those who inhabit it use it to jump back in time. Namely to a point where I haven't yet achieved immortality, and therefore, can be killed. Originally, I had intended to use the gate to go back and save Natsu before he was killed, but because of Etherious Natsu Dragneel, I have since abandoned that idea."

"That won't work." Anna shook her head. "The Eclipse Gate was created after your immortality. Even if people could travel back in time, it could only be to a point where the gate also existed."

"The gate itself is a paradox. Black Magic infused with Light Magic and given life by Death Magic. So long as the person who opens it holds enough power, they can travel to any distinct eclipse, solar or lunar. And I know what you're thinking... No, we aren't going back 20,000 years. While it's true that it is a two-way door, it is only a one way ticket." Anna sighed. So he really was suicidal, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. "Besides, it also requires serious consideration and care to have the gate opened on both sides by a Celestial Spirit Mage or else it could have cataclysmic results, as you are well aware. By going back in time, to a place where there is no magic and subsequently no Celestial Spirit Mages, you could very well be the reason behind the Extinction Event."

"Well, you certainly have logic on your side..." She attempted a weak laugh, but knew the fact he still wanted to die bothered her. "Do you still...you know?"

"Want to be killed, to die?" The slight tilt of her head told him all he needed to know. "At first, yes. Right now, not so much. I don't want to live forever, that much is for sure. The Etherious are useless, and if I could stop them actively hunting me, I would. I want to finish what you and I started, and definitely see Acnologia brought to justice and the world returned to peace. The Tower of Heaven, though, will likely be finished by the time I am ready to die." 

"I see." Anna tried to stop the conversation. He would only contradict himself further and she would rather leave his mind where it comforted her the most. And as for the Etherious hunting down her friend, well, she had a plan. "Would you be upset if I dealt with the Etherious for you?"

"Define 'dealt with.'" He instructed.

"Well, you said you would stop them from hunting you, what's impeding you from doing so?"

"Because they were mere practice runs to perfect E.N.D., Natsu, their main drive and goal is actually to return to me and kill me. They have all developed powers that, undoubtedly, could end my existence. That is why I have yet to confront them." Zeref admitted.

"See, I knew there was a reason you couldn't approach them. But that's okay!" She stood up, forcing the stool away from herself. "That's why I will take care of them for you!"

"Killing my creations seemed a bit harsh, doesn't it?" Zeref immediately contradicted. "And doesn't it violate your morality, killing, that is."

"As far as I'm concerned." She now walked past Zeref who still sat facing forward. "They are malevolent beings whose sole purpose is to kill you, my friend and teammate. I believe it to be the right thing to free you from worrying about your rogues..."

"Very well, just know that I value your safety first, and I don't want you engaging in anything you can't handle."

"I know, and I appreciate it. Just one thing..." Zeref now turned to look at her. "How do I find them?" 

\----------  
Tartaros Base of Operations; July 15, X377  
\----------

"My King!" A slender woman, or rather Etherious, barged through the massive doors that separated the main hall from the throne room. The man to whom she called out to sat upon the throne in a lackadaisical and uncaring manor, his right fist resting on his cheek, holding his head up. He watched the interruption with an unimpressed sigh as she limped forwards in a swift pace. Upon reaching a respectful distance to the dark haired man, he noticed her right arm was busy clutching a large wound on her left side. She placed her massive, clawed free hand on her knees as she bent over, panting loudly as an attempt to catch her breath as well as numb some pain. She moved to speak further, however she winced as a wave of discomfort spread out from her side.

"Speak, Kyôka." The 'king' instructed, taking note of the trail of blood drips she had left behind. If her talons weren't so large, perhaps he could see the extent of the damage. But, based on the blood left behind as well as the pool forming at her feet, her hand was likely resting on her side to hold together her organs. The Seven Demon Gates should have been stronger than this.

"We are under attack!" Kyôka spat in pain as she moved to a kneeling position. Whether the genuflect originated from respect or pain, Mard didn't know. But what he did know was her statement was useless. Obviously they were under attack, otherwise she would have been reduced to such a state. A large explosion suddenly shook the entire castle causing Mard to almost smile as Kyôka struggled in pain against the vibrations. 

"What do you know?" Mard questioned wanting to gain as much information on the intruders as possible.

"We sensed her approaching, and when the foot soldiers were defeated, the Demon Seven moved to intercept her---"

"You allowed a single Mage, a human, to get this far against Tartaros?" Mard interrupted calmly, yet, a subtle tone in his throat resonated anger. "How could this happen?"

"We didn't anticipate the level of her power; Franmalth said she wields a few magics with her main being 'Celestial Spirit Magic.'"

"Celestial Spirit Magic?" Mard's angered, narrowed eyes switched to ones of confusion. Wasn't that the summoning of constellations through keys? How could this form of magic be creating such a disturbance within his ranks; and more importantly, how could it even hold a candle to Curse Power. Kyôka reaffirmed her statement with a nod. "What of her 'other' magics?"

"Franmalth also said he sensed 'Requip Magic' as she entered the fight, and he can feel an unknown third. She hasn't employed it yet, though." Kyôka finished as she coughed up blood. Her wound was definitely lethal, and Mard wondered exactly what the Mage had done to her. Kyôka could feel his eyes lingering on her side; the gaping hole still continuing to leak blood. She had lowered her own response to pain, however, she couldn't stop the fatality of the injury. She knew he was eying her injury and she answered Tartaros' master before he could ask what had happened. "She...she had a weapon of some kind. It looked like floating gold specks, glitter, with nothing but air being the main component. An invisible, sparkling sword... It was ethereal too, only she could grab it and the sword passed through other objects without touching them. I made the error of letting her swing it at me, thinking it was harmless. As the 'sword' passed through my side, she surged magic into it. It seemed as if the invisible weapon was briefly brought to earth, and that's when my side exploded..."

Mard just tsk'd before standing and walking towards his dying subordinate. "It is a shame you were not able do better against the opponent, or even live through it for that matter." He placed his hand in a fist and extended his index and middle fingers, Kyôka begging as he did so.

"My King, I am terribly sorry! If I could just get to a medical bay then I could---" She was cut off by a vine of thorns piercing straight through her clawed hand and into her already open wound. She gasped as she could feel her control of her Curse waning, pain now engulfing her. She couldn't respond, she could only watch as her 'King' was the one to end her life.

"For the past 50 years, you have been a valuable addition to our ranks. My gift to you is death; there is no need to prolong your suffering. Now sleep, Kyôka." He twisted his hand causing the infinitely proliferating thorns inside of her to burst outwards, skewing her from the inside out. 

"Thank you.... My King." Were her final words as life left her body. With a wave of his hand, the thorns retracted and exited her altogether, allowing her lifeless corpse to slump to the floor. She crashed on her stomach, left hand still under her hip while the other was close to her head, which was turned to face it. Mard looked at her body for a second, deeming that she had an almost peaceful look, with a small smile on her dead lips. Without further observation, he moved towards the exit. Whoever this intruder was; they had acquiesced an audience with The Underworld King.

\----------

"How many souls will you pay for all you've destroyed?" Franmalth yelled as he thrust his elastic arms forward in an attempt to make a physical link to the Celestial Spirit Mage. "How many!?" He cried as his hands wove upwards and dove down into the spot where Anna should have been, however she was fast. Franmalth immediately retracted his arms back to him and began frantically turning his body in order to spot the woman. 

Mard had arrived moments earlier to the rocky terrain where they were currently fighting. He had found a high up rock and perched himself atop, all the while watching how Franmalth engaged the opponent. The Absorption Demon was durable, incredibly so, and Mard placed high expectations on the yellow humanoid. As Mard watched Franmalth attempt to ensnare the woman, he realized something he should have sooner. Franmalth was alone. Mard looked towards the battlefield, scanning the numerous rubble for significant casualties. Kyôka's Curse Power wasn't the only one that had been extinguished. "Not just Kyôka, but Torafuzar and Ezel too." He stated while silently wondering where Jackal, Tempester, and Keyes were. He continued to watch the exchange between the Mage and Franmalth, where he found part of his mental question answered.

Anna was inches away from landing a physical blow against Franmalth, but, as she jumped up a wave of black energy slammed into her side and knocked her away. The Absorption Demon looked towards the origin of the black energy, and vividly smiled as he spotted a slender cloaked individual, complete with a skeletal face. "Keyes! How much do I owe you for saving my hide? How much?!" The Black Archbishop just hovered forwards closer to his fellow demon before raising his staff, Curse Power building in the tip.

"Ensnare her." He instructed as Anna struggled to get to her feet, his own Curse completing itself and releasing two black spheres that shot upwards and descended back down and sought out two specific corpses, followed by an incredible amount of smaller spheres that touched the bodies of every deceased foot soldier. Anna grunted as Franmalth actually managed to grab her wrist, and her eyes widened as she saw every opponent she had previously slain come back to life. 

"Fufufu." Franmalth laughed wildly as he saw the confused look on her face. "As long as Keyes here is on our side, we can just keep coming back and back. We are tactically immortal!" He cried in pride. Mard regarded his words. If anyone had potential to usurp even him, it was Keyes. Keyes was strong, and he could resurrect everyone he defeated. He could easily seize control of all the other demons, so long as he could kill them. Necromancy was a chilling thought but his mind was brought forward by an intense release of blinding light. He quickly shielded his eyes and looked to see what the hell had just happened.

"Franmalth!" Keyes reprimanded him for saying too much before he immediately sent his reanimated Ezel and Torafuzar at the girl. But Anna had clearly head Franmalth's words. If the Black Archbishop was the one responsible for reviving everything, then killing him should kill all the rest. It was simple magical knowledge. Magically created beings died when the person who created them did. Even if someone as powerful as Zeref died, all the Etherious would cease to exist as well. She could tell that these things didn't use magic, they relied on something else. But the principles were the same, and she already knew she could kill them. With a smug smile, she extended her free arm towards Keyes, who stepped back once he sensed the immense build up of magical energy. Anna spoke two words before The Black Archbishop became engulfed in light. 

"Urano Metria." 

"You fool!" Keyes used his last words to yelled at an apologetic and fearful looking Franmalth, who withdrew his arms in order to shield himself from the intense light that surged outward. 

\----------

"My King!" A frantic Jackal ran towards the base of the rock Mard Geer sat upon, from which he was now descending. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid them from the blinding light that extinguished Keyes' Curse Power just moments ago. Mard just swatted at Jackals hand when he reached to help him. Mard Geer didn't need the help of anyone. 

"Where is Tempester?" Mard bluntly asked. 

"He's just arrived to the battle, same as me; I saw you up on that ledge so I though---"

"I'm fine." Mard snapped coldly. Who on earth was this Mage? In less than thirty minutes, she had eliminated half of their most powerful members, and Franmalth wasn't far off from joining them. That only left Himself, Tempester, and Jackal. He moved to reposition himself from out behind the large spire of rocks, beckoning Jackal to follow. It wasn't much longer before he spotted a cloaked Tempester standing before the lone Mage, neither moving. Now that he was closer, he could make out some of the gritty details of the battle. Franmalth was laying on his back a few feet behind Tempester, his curse power barely alit, while a black pile of stained earth represented the area where Keyes had once stood. Closer to the blonde Mage, whose hair color he could now see, lied the corpses of dozens of foot soldiers as well as the two larger lumps, Ezel and Torafuzar. Who was she? 

"Ezel, Torafuzar, Kyôka, now even Keyes!?" Jackal questioned as he finally seemed to sense the absence of their pressure. He should have gotten to the fight sooner. He prided himself on being the strongest member. Maybe his fellow demons wouldn't have perished had he been there. 

"Yes. They're all gone. Only You and Tempester remain, along with myself." He thought for a moment. This Mage was powerful, immensely so. Perhaps he shouldn't take her lightly. With her power, she might even be able to end Mard Geer. He would leave nothing to chance. "Release the Beast." 

"Wha....what!? You don't mean..." Jackal snapped, face in terror. That thing scared even him! Now his King wanted it to run wild. It had taken YEARS to imprison it, and years later, it still wasn't obedient. It was as if the thing were born only to destroy. And considering Jackal, whose power only destroyed, believed that, it was a terrifying prospect.

"I said release Deliora." He repeated and Jackal gulped. This girl was too strong and this far into the fight with this many deaths gave Mard Geer no chance to form a plan. He wouldn't leave the outcome of this battle to be decided by himself and two others, not when five had already been bested. The one thing Jackal wanted to see less than Deliora was Mard Geer angry. So he quickly ran off towards the mountains behind the two; where Mard had previously sat upon the throne, intent on fulfilling his King's wishes.

\----------

"Oh, look. There's more." Anna smiled as Mard calmly made his way to the battlefield.

"My King!" Tempester kneeled as soon as he saw the dark haired demon. Hope filled him to the brim. He had seen his comrades laying slain across the battlefield and knew exactly what role fate had for him. He couldn't stand up against the Mage alone, and he felt only saved by the divine that was his king's arrival.

"Stand, Tempester." The brute, lion-like humanoid complied and moved to position himself in a 4-o'clock position behind Mard Geer, where he could hear senseless rambling emerging from the annoying mouth of a should-be-dead Franmalth. Mard moved a few feet towards the Mage. She had earned his respect enough for him to finally take in her details. She was blonde, with a pretty face, big eyes and plump lips. Her hair was completely tied back into a thick pony tail, displaying the entirety of her visage. A golden collar connected to a gold and platinum chest plate, leaving the sides of her chest bare and her arms sleeveless until they were ordained with matching platinum grieves and gloves that extended to just below the elbow. Her chest piece, which was form fitting, ended at her sides, requiring a thick leather strap to hold it onto her torso. Underneath the strap rested gold chain mail, which not only offered comfort against the strap, but finished her with an added extra bit of protection. Her legs were covered in matching slim armor with large brown leather boots that rose up towards her knee. Overall, Mard wouldn't say she looked 'combat-ready,' but rather regal. She looked like the beauty of royalty he had seen in books and on lacrimas. But what interested him the most was the twelve keys that laid embedded into the girls 'chest plate.' The keys, that, he surmised were the source of her Celestial Spirit Magic. Suddenly, a low rumbling told him that the Demon had been freed, and he smiled at the girl as he spoke. "You've done well to make it this far. Not many individuals can stand against even one of the Seven Demon Gates. I should---"

"Oh, shut up and let's get on with it." Anna interrupted dismissively. Mard was dumbfounded; had she no idea who she was talking to, or had she simply no respect? Either way, Tempester went to bat for the disrespect and he smiled once more knowing she would soon realize just who she was up against.

"How dare you!" Tempester yelled. Mard had always views him as the most loyal, sometimes to a fault. "Have you any idea who you are speaking to. His Highness is Mard Geer; The Underworld King himself! You need---"

"I said shut up." Anna was now just looking at her nails. "It took multiple days to track you guys down, and this fight is going on an hour. I don't really want to wait any more than I have to." Now, both the demons looked at her dumbfounded. How could something so beautiful, so draped in gold, be so crass. Anna went to speak once more, but she was interrupted as the stony gray cliffs of the distant mountainside exploded. The shattered stone quickly flew far and fell to the ground, leaving a large, pitch black cave in its wake. Lucy looked from the distant cliff side towards the two Etherious that stood before her. "What did you do?"

"I simply brought another piece to our game." Mard smiled at the dark, massive cavern which rhythmic thudding now emanated from. Anna too, eyed the darkness, and her eyes squinted in an attempt to make out just what was hidden in its depths. Suddenly, dark red eyes seemed to come into vision, and Mard Geer turned to Anna, expecting to see her shaking in the very presence of the monstrosity. Deliora was an unfathomable threat, stronger even than Mard Geer himself. He was one of Zeref's first attempts at creating artificial beings, and as such, he was primordially powerful; completely unhindered by the restrictions evolution had placed. There was no reasoning with it nor any form of understanding within the beast. All it could do was destroy and kill. And as Mard watched in awe as the creature came into full view and it built up a massive sphere of energy at its mandible, he turned to Anna.

However, she wasn't shaking like he had anticipated. This opponent was uncalculatable. Instead she held two keys in her fully extended left arm. One was gold, and the other silver; and as Mard took in the details, he realized that one of the key slots on her armor was empty. She had to be planning something; but she couldn't go up against both Mard Geer and Deliora, could she?

Anna was too busy to notice the almost frantic look on the dark haired man's face. Instead, she was busy having a mental conversation with one of her spirits, laying out the formations of her plan which should reduce the number of Demons even further. She looked towards her gold key, oriental in design with a heart shaped tip and multiple indented rivulets along the neck. Light spiraled from the 'M' style insignia and quickly filled its way around the etched designs before culminating into a small sphere of light at the tip. She watched the massive Demon in the background carefully. She wasn't about to be hit by whatever attack it was preparing.

'Virgo.'

'Yes, Princess?'

'I'm going to summon you underground, when that happens I need you to burrow you way towards the opponent wearing the cloak. Then, grab him while he is distracted, and immediately return to the Celestial Spirit World.'

'But, Princess, what would that....oh'

'Yes. He will fade back to the Celestial Spirit World with you, instantly killing him.'

'But, isn't that...illegal...Princess?'

'You say that as if Eclipse wasn't.'

'You know that 'He' will get mad if I do that for you.'

'Don't worry about 'him.' He still owes me a few favors. When you get back tell 'him' to meet me down here. There's something I need him to take care of.'

'Hai, Princess!' 

The ball of light at the tip of Virgo's key expanded outward, resonating the field with two loud dings. Just as Virgo was summoned beneath the earth, however, the monstrous demon finished charging its attack, and launched an incredibly destructive beam straight towards Anna. Mard Geer and Tempester made quick to move out from under it, knowing full well that if the beam hit Anna, they would likely be maimed as well. As the beam traversed the plains of rocks, magmatic energy erupted from its wake, scarring the earth, and Tempester and Mard Geer both watched as Anna swiped the second key in front of her, tip aglow, before the pearlescent beam reached where she stood; a wall of destructive energy erupting upwards and a shockwave from the point of contact knocking the distant Mard and Tempester back. Both raised their arms to their faces, attempting to brave the intensity of the attack. 

They smiled, assuming a sure victory. However, as the winds died down, and the remaining lava-like energy that spiraled up dwindled, not only Anna was standing, but another second. This time, she was accompanied by a slender man in red and gold styled armor/robes. He was currently seated in a kneeling position, his arms outstretched, holding two halves to a circular shield in each. He was unscathed, as was Anna, who looked at the two demons smiling. "Thanks, Scutum. You can go back now." 

"Yes, Anna." He didn't stand up, rather he just fizzled gold and then dematerialized altogether. 

"Gate of the Shield. Such a useful ally, wouldn't you agree?" She posed rhetorically towards Mard and Tempester, who looked at her with fearful uncertainty. Mard turned back towards Deliora who had immediately began to charge another hyper-beam. He smiled, knowing that there was a summoning reset of Celestial Spirits. She likely couldn't resummon her shield for a set amount of time, and that meant she was now susceptible to the beast's next attack. 

"Fufufu." A fourth voice reverberated from the yellow lump that was Franmalth. Apparently he was still alive. "You sent that spirit of yours back, girlie! Now you're open to Deliora's next attack!" Mard looked at his subordinate incredulously with the utmost derision and awe at just how stupid someone as intelligent as Franmalth could be. Franmalth had the ability to immediately know the magic someone was using the moment they employed it, and subsequently gain a full understanding of it. He was valuable when it came to magical knowledge, but aside from that....he was deplorable.

"Deliora?" Anna repeated the name. 

"Franmalth. You're a moron." Mard Geer shook his head in disappointment. If she hadn't realized she was defenseless before, she sure as hell did now. He was hoping on her ignorance on the situation... But that made the umpteenth time today that he had 'hoped.' It was a trivial mentality, one he now promised himself to abandon in the future. Hope didn't achieve anything, it only let down. This whole battle was based on hope, and they were losing. The only way to win in the would would be to abandon any notion of it and rely on calculation. He was shaken from his thoughts as a pair of chained hands shattered the earth underneath Tempester and grabbed onto the lion-humanoid's legs. Without further warning, Mard's eyes went wide as Tempester began to glow violently before fizzling into nothing. It looked the same as when the mage's 'shield spirit' had been dismissed. As the light fully died down, Mard noticed he could no longer sense Tempester's Curse Power. He was gone now, too. "What did you do?"

Anna mentally snapped back an the sheer amount of anger in his voice. Up until now, he had seemed calm and collected. The way he was regarded by the other members told her that he was their leader, and likely the strongest. He had mention of the Demon Seven, and if he didn't comprise any of that number, there was still one more demon out there along with Deliora. She had already defeated well over half. The remaining threats (if they could be called that) wouldn't be much too strenuous. Anna, in response to his question, just smiled. "Wait till you see what I'm going to do." 

As if her words were a signal, a low pitch of something falling, or rather shooting, filled Mard's ears. He looked up into the sky and immediately saw clouds displacing themselves to reveal the massive presence of a ''shooting star;' even Deliora ceased the buildup of his attack when it sensed danger. And for the first time since his creation, Mard Geer felt chills running along his spine in response to the intensity of the magic the 'shooting star' gave off. The 'star' was fast, however, and a mere fraction of a second later, it crashed into the earth, the ground shattering under its massive form as a welcome to its power. Mard soon realized that it wasn't a projectile, but rather a massive humanoid who's power resembled the spirits the woman had previously summoned. More chills etched their way across Mard Geer's torso, and all he could help but think was: 'is this a god?'

"Ah, Celestial Spirit King!" Anna beamed. So that's who he was. The very entity who governed an entire realm. 

"Old friend." He greeted warmly, taking in the gritty details of the battlefield. From his towering height, he could see the wake his summoner had caused; multiple corpses littering the ground as well as parts of the stony earth destroyed. He briefly regarded the dark haired man before his summoner before his red eyes trailed upwards, following the ruptured earth and catching glimpse of Deliora, who, once more, moved to strike. "Is he the reason you used up one of your favors, Old Friend?" 

Anna just nodded, and without skipping a beat, the Celestial Spirit King charged forwards at blinding speeds, leaving behind a harsh gust of wind in his wake. "That leaves you with four more, old friend!" The Celestial Spirit King reminded over the roar of his speed as he fully intercepted Deliora's beam of energy with his heavenly blade, causing it to bifurcate outward and subsequently splinter off into countless directions. The split beams impacted multiple of the surrounding areas, pillars of magmatic energy erupting from each contact point. As the beam of energy subsided, the Celestial Spirit King closed the remaining distance, lifted his massive sword, and brought it heavily down upon the Etherious. Deliora, in turn, raised his scaled arm and blocked the attack. That, however, didn't stop the massive release of technicolored light that expanded outward from the blade, fully engulfing the demon and destroying the nearby mountain in a sphere of energy.

Anna looked at the exchange of blows with a smile on her face while Mard eyed the situation with the utmost urgency. He would never had guessed that she would even have a counter for Deliora; especially one whose power resembled that of a deity. If their battle was a God battling a devil, then Anna was an Angel and he was a Demon (the last part was obvious.) it was time for Mard Geer to end the fight. With a twist of his wrist and the extension of his index and middle fingers, he thrust his arm at Anna, immediately enlisting multiple strands of thorns to barrel towards the Celestial Spirit Mage. 

Anna responded by simply standing in place, smile growing wider as the vines approached. And just as the infinitely multiplying prickly curse stream was about to touch her, her entire body became cloaked in an intense gold aura. The vines never made contact, as Anna launched herself sideways with blinding speed, a long, comet-like tail of light following her as she moved. Mard twisted his hand further, resulting in the thorns to change direction as well as be aided by the creation of more. They were now following her with similar incredible speeds, and Anna knew that if she stopped without first destroying the demon's attack, she would be skewered. She continued to zigzag out of harms way, eyeing her opponent closely for an opening to strike.

"Heavenly Body Magic." Franmalth stated from his 'resting spot.' Mard looked towards his form, acknowledging that he was in fact listening before sending yet another hurdle of vines towards the speedy Anna. "It is almost like the caster version to Celestial Spirit Magic; the ability to manifest the power of 'heavenly bodies,'or objects commonly found in space. Right now she is using a spell called 'Meteor,' which gives her the speed of the object referenced." 

Anna immediately skidded to a halt as three waves of vines found their way to her. She eyed Mard through the fray and noticed that his head was turned towards the body of the yellow demon, Franmalth she believed was the name. This was a perfect opportunity to strike, and she immediately launched herself forward, narrowly dodging the fray of vines before closing the distance between the two and planting an intense punch on the demons left cheek. Mard was sent flying back from the concussive aftermath of the mach punch; his vines failing to remain active due to the distraction of the attack. "Fufufu." Franmalth laughed. "And apparently the strength of one too! I wonder how much that attack will cost her! How much?!" Anna suddenly appeared above him, golden aura blazing as she lifted her foot and stomped downward; the area where Franmalth's head previously was erupting under the force. 

After having only been thrown back a few meters, Mard quickly recovered from the punch as he sensed the sudden absence of Franmalth's Curse Power. Getting back into a fighting position, he molded his hand into the shape of a gun and began to fire seed-like white speckled black projectiles. His aim wasn't perfect, however, and the first few he sent impacted the ground near Anna having much the same effect as her meteor enhanced foot. This gave her enough time to jump backwards, but as her feet touched the ground once more, vines erupted near them. She looked up to see Mard Geer smiling, and now knew that she had to keep as little contact with the ground as possible.

She only touched the earth a few more times, bouncing in a different direction and pin-balling after each, before she planted her feet one final course change before time began to slow. Not literally, mind you, but as the large, rocky boulder to her left erupted in an explosion revealing a massive animal pouncing towards her, claws extended; it sure felt like it. Whoever this new beast was, it had the same feel as the other demons. Nevertheless, she was done playing games. As the demon, Jackal, was about to tear her throat out with his massive claws, she simply waved her left hand in a dismissive manor in front of her. Jackal, as well as Mard, was thrown sideways in the direction she waved, and as they landed a few meters further away from her, an intense pressure originating above them kept them firmly rooted in place.

Demonic, yet pleading, eyes from the Etherious-formed Jackal looked at Anna as she calmly walked forward. Her previously gold aura had been replaced by a simpler one that now only encapsulated her hand, however, Jackal and Mard sensed tat it held much more magic power than her other one as well as a different feeling. Two keys were violently glowing on her chest piece as she spoke. "Libra's Gravity Change Magic to keep you two in place." She then looked towards her glowing hand. "And Leo's Regulus Magic to end the fight." 

Jackal didn't even have a chance to yell out in pain before Anna extended her arm and surged magic power into the Regulus enhanced fist. The result was a railgun like beam of energy that perforated Jackal's gravity ensnared torso, instantly killing him.

So what if Mard Geer had lost his entire guild? He still had Deliora on his side, and he was just a demonic transformation away from reducing Anna into nothing more than a memory. However, he still couldn't believe just how strong this one individual was. It was as if she was on par with their Creator himself. And no one could be that powerful. Mard went to adapt his Etherious form, but became distracted by the pained howls of Deliora. From his locked-down position, Mard could only make out the periphery of what had transpired between the Celestial Spirit King and Deliora. And chills further ran down his spine as what he thought he saw was the upper half of the gigantic demon falling down, separating itself from it's lower portion; the Celestial Spirit King's majestic blade now dripping with blue blood. Mard closed his eyes, sensing no curse power from the behemoth whatsoever. He struggled to move, but still he could not. 

"Get it over with." He spat at Anna as the he heard the 'sparkling' sound of the Celestial Spirit King's Magic. He didn't even flinch as a unique energy started to form at his feet, moving upwards and petrifying him as it went along. Now it was officially over; he couldn't hope to win as a statue. Anna moved closer, right hand extended at her side, forming the 'invisible sword of glitter' Kyôka had mentioned gave her her wound; the Celestial Spirit King moved into his view. "You've ruined everything Mard Geer has worked to achieve!!! The Hatred of the Underworld King shall not be quelled, even in death!! If it is the last thing I do, I will return and enact vengeance on you, Anna!!" The petrifaction process now reached most of his torso, sending just below the chest and now starting to harden the arms. "And if not you, then your child, and if not your child, then your child's child! My wrath will reach you through your blood!! This I promise!!"

"In that case." The Celestial Spirit King cut off the rant by waving his arm, a low light surrounding Mard Geer Tartaros as he spoke. "Although unlikely hatred alone will return you to this world, may this enchantment protect the first descendent of Anna's you should lay a fatal Curse on. This is my parting gift to you, Underworld King." 

Only Mard's angered face remained uncemented, but even that was quickly changing. "And may my promise to you be that we will meet again, Celestial Spirit King." The petrifaction completed as Mard finished his threat. Anna calmly made her way to his stone form and positioned the invisible blade through the center of his body. With a surge of magical energy, she brought the cataclysmic Celestial Weapon to earthland for naught but a millisecond, the resulting energy shattering the stature into millions of unrepairable pieces. The threat of Tartaros was over. 

Anna could now return to Zeref with good news.

\----------  
Elsewhere  
\----------

"What..." Mard Geer asked groggily as his eyes snapped open. His memory was fuzzy, but he remembered dying, didn't he? He attempted to look around, suddenly realizing he was floating in a large vat of pearlescent water. What was happening? As his eyes attempted to refocus his vision passed his tube into the surrounding area, he saw multiple figures he hadn't expected to see. Kyôka? Ezel? Torafuzar? He continued to look at more bodies similarity suspended in an odd liquid. "Keyes? Tempester? Franmalth? Jackal? All of his former subordinates were floating unconscious in water, or whatever it was. 

He noticed, however, that they were not fully formed; some were missing arms, or others legs, some even had half of their body missing, and it wasn't much longer before Mard soon realized he was only a head as well as a ribcage and spine that housed a heart and lungs. A new face suddenly appeared directly in front of the vat he occupied. From his position he could make out a pretty female face, serious features, and black hair with a weird marking on her forehead. The woman before him talked on the glass twice before speaking.

"Are you awake?"

Mard didn't respond with an answer, instead posing a question or two of his own. "Where am I?" She didn't seem to hesitate in answering him. Promptness was an admirable quality.

"I call this place Hell's Core. I created it as a means to bring those like myself back to life."

"And who are you?" Mard was now genuinely intrigued by the lone Etherious who had managed to aid them all in escaping death.

"My name is Seilah."

"Well, Seilah, welcome to Tartaros."

\---------  
Next Chapter: The Make-Mage  
\---------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where are all my reviewers? Lol. I miss you guys!


	51. The Make-Mage

Chapter 51 ODAG

\----------  
Nirvite City Outskirts  
\----------

"They don't seem too unusual." The dark wizard proclaimed to himself as he continued leaking his head out from behind a large rock. After Anna had declared her intent on defeating his demons, she told him to wait for her at the southeastern peninsula closest to the ancient city. Zeref had complied and made the journey in under two days, and after, time seemed to melt together as five more days passed. It had now been a week since he had seen the celestial powerhouse, and he was now growing worried. Anna was his friend, his only friend, and her tackling Tartarous on his unasked behalf cemented that mentality into his usually fickle mind. 

He shouldn't have stood by and let Anna walk out of that cafe to deal with his problems. He was too scared of facing his demons, and now he was even more afraid for her safety, which was dangerous. Being selfish was the only way to keep those around him safe, but being selfish is what sent Anna in the direction of demons. If she had gotten harmed facing Tartarous, he would hate himself even more. There was no winning. 

Zeref sensed more Nirvites approaching and snuck another peek. The peninsula he was hiding by was a port of sorts for the Nirvite people, and as such, it was busy. Trade was rampant, and families would walk around to find new wares while the loud noise of the sea faring group docked their ship, bringing in new imports. To him, it was a normal, functioning city. It was hard to believe that they possibly worshiped the strongest, most corrupt of the gods. 

"Mommy, I feel weird." The unusually loud child's voice rattled Zeref from his thoughts. In front of him, roughly twenty feet, stood a small boy, staring directly at Zeref's location. "There's something behind that rock." The child pointed right at Zeref, whose eyes widened. That shouldn't happen. Zeref was emitting a miasma which killed off the light that bounced off of him, effectively rendering him invisible. That, in tandem with his suppressed magic pressure, there was no way someone, a child no less, could sense him.

"Look." The child said with his finger outstretched, and that's when the mother of the child looked up, eyes devoid of any emotion. And that's when the woman next to the mother, too, looked. Then the group of people to their right, followed suite. It continued to domino outward until the every Nirvite present was looking dead-eyed in Zeref's direction. Zeref had seen many horrifying things in his life, but having every Nirvite staring directly at him, emotionless, was up there. He really should have been undetectable. The only person who should have been able to sense him is Anna, someone with his level of magic capabilities... Someone his level... 

Of course. He quickly scanned the zombified crowd. How could he have not understood sooner. They were tracking someone with their caliber of magic.

"Figured it out, have you?" Zeref's eyes snapped back to where the child's voice previously rang from. Only now, the voice was different, and there was no longer a child. Instead, a young man stood where the child once stood. The man's cocky grin was accented by spiky brown hair, thick eyebrows, and slight stubble. He was average height, dressed in baggy maroon pants, held onto his slim waist by a thick golden belt. His biceps were covered by golden bands and his neck supported a matching maroon and gold collar like necklace that's circular shape ended just above the base of his pecs. Other than that, his torso and arms were exposed and his bare feet only had thin sandals separating his souls from the hot ground. The man waived his arm, causing the rock Zeref was hiding behind to dissolve, leaving him even more exposed.

And that's when the sheer strength of the man's magic hit him like a wall of bricks. This was definitely the person they were looking for. Roubaul. Zeref's gaze sharpened at the young man before him, his deathly aura flaring outward. "I'm not here to fight you."

Roubaul's eyes flickered down to inspect the dark wizard. "If that were true, then explain that." He pointed to Zeref's hand which now encased a rather large manifestation of his energy. Zeref quickly looked towards his hand and noticed death sphere, then silently sighed as he consciously retracted his magic. 

"I apologize." Zeref said devoid of any emotion. He couldn't let anything slip with all of the innocent people around, still eerily staring at him.

"Ah, I see. Your actions don't match your mentality... Do they?" Roubaul posed rhetorically. "Then am I to assume I am being payed a visit by the Black Wizard himself?"

"How can you possibly--"

"There aren't many individuals with an aura as vast as yours. And doubled with a certain air of...portentousness unique to black mages, well, I'd find it hard to believe if you weren't the infamous Zeref." So, Zeref thought, he was as smart as Anna had described. "Of course, I only know of this Zeref through the grapevine. Just lore and myth and fairy tails."

"I'm far from a fairy tail." Zeref responded coldly, his senses preparing for the battle Roubaul's sudden increase in energy promised. Roubaul just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"Well, then. I suppose there is one way to tell." His brown eyes suddenly snapped open and he extended his arm. A blue light enveloped the entirety of his hand and a split beam of matching blue energy shot towards the black wizard. An illusion. Yet, Zeref was expecting an attack, so he simply dodged to the side... And that's when it his him... Or rather, stabbed him. Roubaul had pre materialized a grounded spear right behind Zeref, and as he stepped back, the spear imbedded itself into his back. Zeref let out a pained grunt and Roubaul just laughed. "Well, that hit a vital spot, and you're still breathing. I guess the rumors of your immortality are true, 'O' Great Dark Wizard.'"

"And what if I wasn't immortal, did you intend to become a murderer?" 

"As I said before, yours is a great, dark power. A power that I shouldn't let loose around my kin. By killing you now, I simply would have been defending my people." Roubaul's arrogant smile dead panned as his features turned into ones of combat, his magical energy beginning to build up as a threat. "Now I suppose I'll have to take things seriously."

Zeref waved his arm, causing a black wave of energy to encircle him, instantly destroying the spear lodged in his back. As the confined miasma dwindled down, the grass at his feet was withered and Zeref's face housed frustration. "And you think fighting me here, in front of all these civilians is a good idea?" 

Roubaul's smile popped back onto his face. He lifted up his right hand and snapped. Zeref's eyes widened as one-after-one the citizens began to disappear and fade away. As his eyes frantically looked to every disappearing individual, the decorations, too, began to dissolve. Soon, every person, booth, shop, store, boat, dock, and everything that made the peninsula charming faded from existence. "They were all..."

"Illusions. Yes. And what's more..." Roubaul waved his arm causing the ocean and bay yo completely dissolve into dirt, leaving the two standing alone in a crater like environment. 

"The entire peninsula too?!" Zeref questioned, shocked from having never seen an ability like this. 

"Yes. The actual ocean is roughly five miles that way. I merely fabricated the peninsula when I sensed your energy. I didn't want you getting close to the actual city."

"So... Your power..."

"The ability to create illusions and subsequently bring them into reality. Now, understand why you should never have chosen to come here. Illusion-Make." Roubaul wrapped both his hands in a dull blue light. After waving them outward, they met above his head and began to surge power. 

Zeref looked upward only to be greeted by the image of a meteor hurdling towards them. As light can freely pass through an illusion, a shadow engulfed the two as Roubaul snapped his fingers bringing the massive rock into existence and blocking out the sun. "Let's see if you survive after being reduced to ash!" Roubaul began to laugh at his apparent victory until he literally chocked over the power of a new arrival. His meteor, which was previously blocking out the sun suddenly began to glow violently. Roubaul couldn't place the massive amounts of new energy radiating from his creation, yet, if he had to describe it, he would say it felt the exact opposite of Zeref's power. The hum of energy emanating from the rock relapsed into a low pitch before the meteor blew up, dissolving into golden light. As the force of the silent shock wave reached the ground and dirt and dust began to be flung about. Roubaul had to shield his eyes from harm, but as the winds died down, he was surprised by what he saw...and by what he felt. Never before had he felt two auras more powerful than the two in front of him, and for the first time in the powerful make mage's history, he felt overwhelmed.

"Roubaul." The blonde woman who had just arrived addressed him...but wait.. He knew who she was.

"Anna...? Anna Heartfilia?!"

"Ye...yes.. How do you know--" she was cut off as Roubaul made the distance between them in the blink of an eye and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I...uh...do we know each other...?"

"Oh.. Sorry. No we don't." Roubaul said as he let go of the smaller girl with a blush on his cheeks. "It's just that...you're kind of my idol in the academic world! My whole life, I've wanted to meet you, and here you are!" He pointed out in both arms and began to nervously chuckle as Anna began to quietly giggle.

"Yes, here I am."

"But wait... Why are you here?" He suddenly realized before turning towards the dark wizard who seemed to have calmed down now that Anna was present. "And why is he here?"

"Well, Roubaul." Anna sighed. "That's a long story."

"Well," he simply stated as his magic flared into his palms before extending his arm forcing a small coffee shop full of customers and workers to materialize beside them. The sounds of people chatting and the smell of fresh pastries and brewed coffee permeated the air as Roubaul cockily smiled at his powers. "I've got time." He gestured towards his illusion. Anna looked to an emotionless Zeref then back to Roubaul before complying in the motion of his gesture. Zeref followed.

\----------

After the wide eyed pair of Anna and Zeref had followed Roubaul into a small, yet staffed, caffe, that he quite literally snapped into existence, they found their seats at the center of the small illusion across from the man they were there to recruit. Roubaul's smile was intense as he gazed at Anna, seemingly ignoring the he dark Mage to her right, while Anna's head was busy trying to comprehend why it was so difficult to start a conversation with the Illusion Make Mage in front of her. It would be roughly the same words that she had used with Zeref, and she honestly expected Roubaul to be less stubborn... So why, then, did she feel more comfortable around the the most feared person on earth.

She found herself staring at her darkly dressed friend and quickly averted her gaze with tinted cheeks. She snapped her attention back to Roubaul, who's focus hadn't wavered before she took a deep breath and spoke... Only Zeref beat her to it...

"The Nirvites worship a God who is exalted well beyond the others. Who is he?"

Roubaul flinched away at the harshness of the question before Anna scolded the man before him. "Zeref!" She chided. "Sorry about that."

"Why do you want to know about our God?" Roubaul posed, uncrossing his arms so that the figmented waitress could place down his drink followed by Anna's and Zeref's.

"Well, while Zeref was blunt, that is the question." She eyed him. "But first, I think it's important you hear a backstory." Roubaul nodded in understanding before Anna began her short speech. 

"A long time ago, there was an era before magic. An era ruled by divine beings we known as gods. These entities, alone, had the power to shape earth, and that's what they had done all their lives. I'm not certain what bestowed the gods with unparalleled power, but, what I do know is there is early artwork that depicts a new division between men and far, far higher beings. This artwork becomes abundant just after a celestial event known as Harmonic Convergence, an event, in which, all the planets aligned."

By now, Roubaul's hands had shifted to support his jaw in curiosity, a slight sparkle in his eye as she delivered her story. "The era of the gods began with a planetary alignment 20,000 years ago, and what came next was the era of Magic. Just around 10,000 years ago, magic first appeared in the fabled form of the one magic. However, just as with the powers given to the gods, the one magic, too, seemed to correspond to yet another Harmonic Convergence. What's interesting though, is the fact that every person alive has heard of the Harmonic Convergence under a different name. The Extinction Event. The very event that turned the world to ash, and the very even which no one can explain. However, I have a theory."

"I'm certainly intrigued." Roubaul stated. "What is your theory?"

"That the extinction even was caused by the gods, the malevolent and most powerful gods."

"And why would it be caused by the gods?" Roubaul's voice seemed to grow irritated. Anna had expected this from a member of a clan as devout as his.

"I'm not sure why they would, only that it's worth finding out."

"Gods are benevolent creatures. They would never do such a thing." Roubaul suddenly pushed his chair out and began to stand. "Your theory is offensive. Good luck, Anna. Zeref." 

He turned around and began to walk out before a wave of magic energy hit him. Dark energy. Tendrils of darkness had leaked out from a now standing Zeref and crept their way over to an immobilized Roubaul, who couldn't resist as the shadowy teachers twisted him around and forced him to look at the dark wizard. 

"Zeref!" Anna snapped and promptly went to grab his arm. However, Zeref simply flicked his right wrist towards her, a concussive force of magic knocking her well back. Roubaul watched the terrifying display. He went to summon his magic, but found that the magic Zeref was employing prevented him from doing so. Roubaul knew that he was revered as one of the strongest mages on earth, but being in this position as he was now made him feel like he was nothing. He had no idea how far he truly was from the top. 

His eyes widened as Zeref's hand reached out and lifted a jagged cutting knife from the table, slowly bringing it to eye level, inspecting the sharpness as he moved closer towards Roubaul. If he wasn't completely paralyzed, Roubaul would have gulped and even Anna, from the debris of table she crashed into, seemed too stunned to move. 

"So." Zeref finally spoke. His calm voice eerie amidst the slightly ghoulish and droning sound of his magic. "You think the gods benevolent beings. Let me show you just what the gods are made of." 

Zeref brought the dagger up into the air, and swiftly brought it down. Anna managed a frightened scream while Roubaul managed to close his eyes. It wasn't much longer before the blade made contact, and Roubaul's already shut eyes further flanged as blood was splattered against his face. Although...he felt no pain... And Anna had stopped screaming.

Slowly, his eyes opened in order to understand what was happening. And although he could make sense of it, it was still disgusting. The blade hadn't made contact with Roubaul, but rather Zeref himself. And as Zeref noticed the confused eyes upon him, he brought the knife from his naval to his solar plexus. Blood further splattered outward as he gouged himself inside out, and so the knife reached his kid chest, he diagonally slid it through his heart. Blood once more spurted out from the major organ and Roubaul felt like throwing up. Finally Zeref took the blade out of his ravaged body and brought it swiftly down upon his neck, slicing clean through his own jugular. 

Zeref's dark robes were further stained Crimson, and the exposed lower torso of Roubaul matched his maroon pants. Roubaul was speechless, and despite the major, life ending injuries Zeref had self inflicted, he remained standing. The magical tendrils finally left Roubaul and retracted back to the dark wizard. The air of portentousness in the small caffe suddenly vanished, and although Roubaul was now free to move, all he was able to do was stare at Zeref, whose wounds had already healed.

"Back when I was still mortal, still human, I had a family. I loved that, and above all was my little brother, Natsu. When the dragon war began, my family was killed. Natsu was the one who sensed something approaching, and he pushed me away, sparing my life from dragon fire. Natsu was so young, and his life was stolen from him. So I used the rest of mine to bring him back. That's when the God of Life and Death cursed me. Now, the more I hold life precious, the less I can control my death magic. While, the less I care about life, the more I control it. All because I tried to bring a child back to life." Roubaul had since averted his gaze, unable to look the immortal in the eye. "So, let me ask you. Do you still think the gods are benevolent?"

Roubaul pondered the words briefly before he found his answer, however a burst of bright light quickly found its way from Anna to Zeref, who was sent flying through the Cafe wall. "Too far, Zeref!" Anna yelled at her 'friend.'

Anna soon arrived at the newly formed exit and watched as Zeref grunted in an attempt to stand up. Magic began to swirl around her right arm as she readied another attack at the dark wizard. His inability to die giving her unlimited punishing rights. However, just as she was about to surge her magic outward, a tanned hand calmly wrapped around hers. Her magic quieted down as she looked into Roubaul's understanding eyes, and soon the cafe dissolved into nothing. They three were once again alone in a crater. 

"Roubaul?" Anna questioned as Zeref finally stood up.

"Clearly I was misguided about the kind nature of Gods," he gestured towards Zeref. "If that is something they're capable of."

Anna was suddenly filled with understanding. Everything Zeref had just done was to show Roubaul the inhuman nature of the divine beings. She silently thanked him.

"Can I just ask..." Roubaul turned his head towards Zeref, yet was still I  
Unable to meet his gaze. "What happened to Natsu?"

Zeref smirked. "I suppose it's fair to say that the day he died was the last day either of us were truly human." Roubaul looked down even further, sadness overtaking him. "But, as it stands, his heart beats, or rather, it will once more in 400 years."

"400 years?" The Illusion Mage questioned. 

"Ah, well, that brings us to an entirely different story..." Anna sighed. "One that I will happily tell you if you agree to come with us." 

"Where exactly are we going?" 

"To be as blunt as my friend." Anna said. "We are going to find your God, and stop him before the next Harmonic Convergence."

"Okay. But what makes you so sure he is the one to go after?"

"He's regarded as the most powerful. Not just by your people, but by the other, most popular tribes. Besides, even if it's not him and he is as good as you claim, then he will help us understand the reason behind the extinction event. And hopefully stop the next one."

"Another extinction event?!" Roubaul snapped. 

"Yes, and unless we stop it, the world will be rubble once more." She looked sternly at Roubaul. "Now, what do you say, will you lend us your strength, Roubaul of the Nirvites?" She extended her arm in agreement. 

Roubaul only waited a second before linking arms. "I'm in. It's just as you say, if he is good, I won't raise a finger, but if he is bad, I will have no choice but to protect my people."

"I'm glad you see things that way. It's that transcendent thinking I've heard your tribe is good at."

"What do you mean?" 

"Letting go of the weight of the world, and ideology like that is what the Nirvite God is revered for, right?"

"You misinterpreted it." Roubaul looked from Anna to Zeref. "Who we worship is no one other than the God of Weight."

"Oh." Anna looked at him confused. That's an interesting thing to worship... "Wha--"

"Anna." Zeref gained her attention before she could ask any more questions. "Now that we have recruited Roubaul, may I ask who the fourth member of our team will be?"

"Another member? Who?" Roubaul backed up Zeref's question.

"Why, only the most powerful warrior the world has come to know." They both waited for her to continue and their eyes widened as she named the next recruit. "Fiora Nakagami."

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Most Powerful Warrior in the World  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a while on this... In the end, it came out as boring and short. So I decided to add Roubaul's conversation to next chapter where they meet the fourth and final member of their group. Enjoy.


	52. The Most Powerful Warrior in the World

\----------  
Northern Fiore Mountain Range  
\----------

It wasn't long before the unlikely trio managed to navigate their way to the mountain range long fabled to be home to the Nakagami clan. Anna had filled in her comrades on the history, not that they needed the information, however. Everyone knew of the Nakagami clan. A clan responsible for producing the fiercest and strongest warriors to ever grace the earth. They lived in the shadows; having great honor and morals and only appearing when the world was in dire need. Anna had hoped their current leader, rumored to be a young woman named Fiora, would see the sincerity in their request and offer the help of the Nakagami. It was a stretch, though, as Anna got the feeling that, for this one, she would need hard fact over speculation. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Roubaul turned around to ask as Zeref turned sideways to look at her.

"Nothing." She admitted. "I just hope we are able to convince their leader to join us." 

"I wouldn't sweat it. You managed to convince me!" Roubaul informed her, "And us Nirvites can be very stubborn; it's an old rumor that we are so stubborn we can will our magic to last long after death!"

"How impressive." Zeref responded sarcastically. Roubaul just brushed him off as he extended his glowing arm, the illusion of a new staircase suddenly wrapping itself up the mountain before it became brought into reality. "Should we really be making this much of a presence?" Zeref reprimanded.

"And how would you suggest we get there!" Roubaul snapped, growing mildly tired of Zeref's glum attitude. 

"I could warp us there." Zeref put simply.

"No." Anna shut the idea down. "Once we get there, there's already a chance they will treat us as hostiles. It's best not to just randomly appear...out of a black magic death portal, no less." Anna's eyes suddenly widened, she turned to grab onto Zeref's arm.

"You feel it too, huh?" Zeref asked as the sudden magic pressure of countless mage's seemed to surround them. Roubaul, also, began to look around having felt the sudden presence, but couldn't spot anything.

"You're almost correct." A new male voice spoke to the trio as his form stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, massively built and adorned with lavish armor sported and garnished in white silk. "Showing up, no matter the fashion, would have us treat you as hostiles. Especially given the nature of that Mage, there." He said as he held out his sword to Zeref, who responded by evilly smiling back at the man, a death sphere expanding outward from his hand. 

"Zeref." Anna grabbed his attention, bringing Zeref momentarily back to sanity, causing him to deactivate the spell. "We aren't here to fight you. We are here to speak to your leader."

"And we aren't here to fight you." The man stated, enlisting confused looks from the trio. Magic began to flood into his sword, before he thrust it downward and into the earth, circular golden light expanding upon the earth till Anna, Zeref, and Roubaul stood within the small area. The magic didn't seem hostile, so they didn't really react aside from looking at the light around their feet. "Our leader sensed your presence from miles away. Said she's never met anyone with a similar magnitude of power, let alone three. She asked me to bring you three to her, hostile or not."

The light around the four remained stationary while the background began to twist and turn, the entire world around them spinning. The man's magic had to do with teleportation and transportation, no doubt. "And why wouldn't it matter to her if we were hostile or not?" Roubaul questioned, it seemed weird to, as a leader himself, allow hostiles anywhere near the leader. But, then again, just as he head on engaged Zeref, so too might their leader. As Roubaul finished the question, different mixtures of light had entered the spinning background, consuming the imagery until it all slowed to a halt, revealing a new setting.

They were now in the center of a grand, Grecian styled hallway, large pillars supporting golden flamed torches on the left and right giving the entire building a beautiful warm glow. Past each of the pillars was openness, no walls, allowing a beautiful view of the surrounding scenery. In the center, a red carpet, accented with golden threads, graced the ground leading to the large open entrance, overlooking an expansive mountain range. At the other end of the carpet, the other end of the large rectangular room, seated a large, beautiful, golden throne. It looked as if they were in Olympia itself. A voice, coming from the throne, caused them to refocus. 

"To answer you, It doesn't matter if you came here as friend or foe." The woman atop the throne stood up and made her was down a few steps to enter the expanse that was the foyer. She was young, late twenties to early thirties. Clear, pale complexion with blood red hair that contrasted against her grey eyes. Her hair hung loosely in the back but was tied into two stands near her left and right temples, respectively, held into place by golden braids. She was crowned with an onyx diadem that segmented into five parts. A white boa hung loosely around her shoulder, resting just atop lions head pauldron plates. She sported a short blue robe, lavished with golden thread, largely left open in the middle, exposing her mid breast and solar plexus. The robe was tied together at the waist by an ornate red ribbon, a gold bead residing at the center of the bow. The robe was layer, cascading down until it developed into matching leggings. Overall, she was beautiful, a queen. "It doesn't matter if you are friend or foe because either way, I invited you here for the same thing: to challenge you."

"What!?" They all said in unison as they stood before the woman, dumbfounded. 

"I wish to fight you. Never in my life have I encountered individuals I would consider a threat." She admitted before bowing to the three. "Now, suddenly, there are three."

"We didn't come here to fight you." Anna responded, hoping to knock some calmness into their, hopefully, future ally.

"Yeah!!" We came -----"

"Silence." Fiora interrupted the illusion Mage while turning around and returning to her throne. "I don't know nor care what you came here for, however, should you manage to defeat me in combat, I shall use all of my resources to grant your request." 

Well, the trio couldn't believe this. All they had to do was defeat her in combat and they got her on their team. It was simple enough. "That can definitely be arranged." Anna spoke for the group. "Just chose who you want to fight and we can get this started." 

Zeref quickly looked around, the only one to notice that the guards who previously littered the outside, were gone.

Fiora promptly stood from her throne, unsheathing a halberd from her back, she quickly eyed each option. The girl on the right was formidable. She utilized three magics. Celestial Spirit Magic as her primary; Heavenly Body and Requip as her secondary. Weaknesses include: desire to protect, spatial magic. The man in the middle emanated portentousness. He utilized various types of magic all stemming from Black Magic. Weaknesses include: light magic, imprisonment. The man on the left was equally as strong as the other two. He wielded make magic; variety: Unknown. Weaknesses include: physical attacks, direct combat.

She smiled as she had made her choice. "I chose all of you!" She said as she jumped from her throne into the air, body turning into a sideways flip. Anna's, Zeref's, and Roubaul's eyes went wide as she landed a good 10 meters away from them, bringing her blade down into an overhead strike. However, they barely had time to react.

A massive shockwave was sent from the arc of Fiora's sword, cresting outward and completely eroding everything in its path. Ground, ceiling, even air, were all sliced in a 20 foot wide shockwave that almost immediately made it to the trio, however, they were fast. Well, eh, two of them were. Anna quickly requiped a sword into her hands, holding it diagonally across her body in a defensive position. The sword was a cross between a medieval blade elongated Roman Gladius, roughly three and a half feet in length barring the ornate hilt which mixed in accents of brown mahogany for the grip. The base was golden in color, contrasting sharply against the reddish brown, while the gold theme continued up and through the center of the blade, leaving the edge and central ridge silver. The sword was unique though, and sacrificed its rain guard for a wider, ovoid appearance in its stead allowing for a small three inch oval to be hallowed out in the center. As the sword materialized in her hands, the hollowed out center began to glow, and a silver key was brought into existence, suspended inside the opening. 

Roubaul too, responded to the attack, and immediately visualized an adamantium shield before him. Just as the attack struck, he materialized it into existence. But despite both their efforts, the attack still hit hard. Anna struggled to maintain balance as the shockwave hit, skidding back several feet while she poured power into her Scutum enhanced blade, eyes shut in concentration as the roar of the enemy attack passed her. Roubaul's ultimate defense was immediately shattered, leaving him to feel a good brunt of the attack. He had no doubt that without the shield, he would be dead, but as the after effects of the wind following the shockwave continued to push him back, he imagined and materialized weights all around him, preventing him from moving. 

Zeref simply braved the attack, knowing full well an invisible air slice couldn't kill him. What it could do, however, was send him not only out of the building, but thrown off the cliff the palace seemed to reside. As the attack died down Anna and Roubaul looked back to try to see their discarded friend. He couldn't be seen, he was likely fine, but what they found behind them was startling. The entire mountain range that the palace faced was cleanly cut through, the shockwave generated by Fiora easily bifurcating it.

This was just one attack, and it didn't take Fiora long to launch another. Gaining her footing, she brought her sphere to her right and swung horizontally, sending another shockwave at the standing two. This time, though, they were ready, and as the shockwave swept passed them, eroding the pillars to the left and right (effectively destroying the rest of the building) Anna and Roubaul vaulted over it, landing smoothly before each making their next move.

Roubaul outstretched his, now, glowing hands forward immediately creating the illusion of a light based railgun before bringing his imaginary attack into reality. The beam was swift, faster than most attacks could optically be seen, let alone respond. But in the fraction of a second it took the attack to make contact with Fiora, she had brought her halberd up, flat side perpendicular to the beam causing it to splinter into countless beams that refracted around her. 

Anna took another route. Direct combat may have been the preferred method, but Anna was an analytical. As she vaulted over the attack, she looked back, eyes charting as much detail as she could keep up with. The shockwave, after passing them, had trailed off, seemingly incessant as it struck the already bifurcated mountain, this time slicing its top half clean off. It was powerful, undoubtedly, but why? The shock waves were either a result of pure force or a result of magic and Anna found it hard to believe the simplicity of the former. Especially when she began to take note of the collapsed building surrounding them. The initial attack had completely obliterated the roof and upturned the ground while the second attack had cut through each of the large columns that lined the building, effectively collapsing the remaining parts of the building. Luckily, for Anna, there were actually remaining parts of the building, as their physical state gave her a clue as to the magic behind Fiora's attack. There were no clean cuts in any of the rubble, they were rough, splintered, almost as if a blast had hit them, and if her strikes were a simple continuation of her blade, they would be clean. Even more, however, the rubble laying untouched on the ground continued to develop cracks despite no outside intervention and Anna's eyes widened as even the larger pieces continued to crumble and shatter into smaller bits. Interesting. She would need a bit more info, however, before making any generalizations on her magic. 

A golden key suddenly materialized in Anna's left hand. "Open!" The key, whose symbol seemed a red combined letters M and J contrasted against a cream background, began to glow harshly, releasing tremendous power. As the glow from the letters expanded outward, radiating down the neck and continuing along the heart shaped tip, a small ball of light emerged. It expanded outward forming a large golden seal. "Gate of the ---" Anna tried to finish before her attack was rendered useless. As the magic seal formed, Fiora began to twirl her halberd, generating a small gust, which, as it passed over Anna's seal, shattered it, leaving her unable to summon. 

Anna's eyes widened as her Celestial Summoning was subjugated to cessation, and her eyes widened further as Fiora took her brief shock to close their distance. Fiora swung; halberd met sword as Anna, struggling, pushed back against her opponent. Anna wasn't averse to combat, but Fiora was definitely in a world of her own. With her strength and speed, Anna was fortunate her sword could even withstand one of her blows. Her sword, the Celestial Sword, was a weapon of immense power. Given birth in the Celestial Forge, the hottest star in the cosmos, and made of condensed stardust, the weapon was able to harness the power of a celestial spirit by placing its key in the sword's ovoid chasm. The base power of the spirit's became magnified with Anna's own, and with the sword she could preform amazing feats. She currently applied Scutum's key to the sword, gate of the shield, which gave herself and the sword tremendous defensive powers. 

Anna's defense, however, didn't last long as Fiora, while simultaneously deflecting Roubaul's projectiles, struck at Anna's sword. This time, though, her halberd was imbued with an immense amount of her magic. And, as it struck, Anna's blade became littered with cracks, which after a brief second, caused the Celestial Sword to shatter. Anna was taken aback. Not because her sword broke...it had regenerative powers and she had accidentally broken it more than a few times. What took her aback was how easily Fiora was able to break through her almost absolute defense. A light bulb went off in Anna's head as she finally understood the nature of Fiora's magic. Anna let loose a soft smile. A smile, though, that faltered the moment she mentally checked back into the battle, seeing Fiora readying another, presumably lethal, blow not even milliseconds after breaking her sword. 

Time seemed to slow for Anna as she frantically searched through the countless, still midair, shards of her sword, looking for one key component. It was amazing what adrenaline could do when you were in a pinch. After her eyes darted back and forth in numerous times, Anna finally spotted what she was looking for. The silver key that previously empowered the sword, was just before her, and with a reaction speed to rival Fiora's, she snatched it out of midair. 

From Roubaul's perspective, it all happened in the blink of an eye. One second Anna was standing, the next her sword was gone, and now Anna seemed to outstretched her arm to intercept one of Fiora's powerhouse blows. The halberd connected with Anna's open palmed hand, and Anna was sent flying backwards no less than 30 meters. Anna's back hit the ground hard, head too, and through fuzzy vision she saw Fiora gap the distance between them and bring up her halberd.

"I don't know how you survived that attack." Fiora admitted before bringing her magically embedded blade downward. 

While Fiora might have not known how Anna braved the attack, Anna did. If her sword offered a near absolute indestructibility, augmented by Scutum's key, then Scutum's Key itself should be the absolute defense. She had never tested her spur of the moment theory, as if she would go around sledging her spirit keys to test their durability, but she was lucky she not only got to test her theory, but also prove it. As Fiora had readied her next strike, and as Anna grabbed Scutum's key from the air, she immediately held the small silver frame flat and vertical against her open palm. Her hand instinctively moved outward to meet Fiora's blade, the key stood up to the force of the halberd. Her arm became incredibly numb, likely broken, after intercepting the blow, and she was launched back a generous distance into the hard, upturned floor. The wind was knocked out of her, and her suddenly fuzzy vision was likely a result of a concussion spurred from it harshly slamming into the ground, but, she was alive, still technically undefeated. 

"This one should be a little more decisive!" She heard Fiora yell as she blade swiftly descended towards an unfocused Anna. However, with a loud and resounding 'tink,' her blade came to a halt as it was met by four hovering swords. Swords, which, Roubaul had thankfully materialized. While the two swords in the back held the halberd in place, the two closest to Fiora suddenly swiped forward. Fiora was left with two options given the sudden appearance of the blades: either be cut open, or retreat. It was an easy decision. Disengaging her halberd from the illusionary blades, she jumped back. Roubaul was quick, however, and as she retreated he created a monstrous amount of sword illusions, and after bringing them into reality, sent them all hurdling towards Fiora. His onslaught wasn't enough to do any damage to her, she was able to effortlessly deflect much faster attacks while also remaining in direct combat with someone else. But his goal wasn't to maim. It was to distract. 

As Fiora continued to deflect the countless blades, Roubaul ran over to Anna's side, gently propping her upright as he mentally created even more illusions for Fiora to deal with. The duo eyed the warrior as, with one fell swing, she managed to discard every illusion Roubaul had created with a miniature shockwave. The swords crumpled as the touched the ground. Roubaul held out his hand, pouring energy into it causing it to glow blue.

"Armada!!" He shouted, causing the illusion of hundreds of soldiers to surround Fiora. He then waved his hand once more, creating a now continuous supply of illusionary blades to rain down upon her. "Are you okay?" He questioned the Celestial Mage.

"I'll be fine." She admitted as she hoisted herself upright, appreciative of the support Roubaul had offered. Her vision was still blurry, and she was seeing things in double, but she knew mind was over matter. If she could just focus on something, the effects of slamming her head against the ground should go away. She quickly held up Scutum's key, eyeing the shield shaped face until the two images converged into one and clarified. "Thanks for your help, Scutum." She activated her magic, intending to return his key to her requip dimension, however, nothing happened. She tried again. And again...still nothing.

"You're eyeing that key pretty hard..." Roubaul noticed as he created more illusions to occupy Fiora with. "Your vision that bad?"

"No..." Anna admitted, deep in thought, perplexed by the situation. With Roubaul's help, she stood up and placed Scutum's key in her pocket. "I'm unable to use spatial magic..." 

"So, your Celestial Spirit and Requip magics are decommissioned, huh?" 

"Yes. I still have Heavenly Body, though." 

The two eyed their opponent as she gracefully swung her halberd through Roubaul's 'Armada,' easily destroying most of their force. It didn't take her long, however, to catch on to the fact that the army she was facing would be unending. Fiora quickly poured her magic into her halberd, deflected a few swords thrown her way, and then clicked the bottom of the hilt of her staff into the ground. A pulsating noise rang loudly in Anna's and Roubaul's ears as her magic swept over Roubaul's illusions, each one turning to dust as the wave passed them. As her magic died down, the room was eerily calm. Anna and Roubaul locked eyes with an intense, yet happy, looking Fiora who brought her halberd down to her side, the long pole extending up passed her head. 

"I've figured out your magic." Anna declared. Fiora's eyes widened in both shock and question. "Your magic doesn't simply cut through things as similar sword mage's magic does. Yours breaks things. It broke this pantheon. It broke my spatial magic and Roubaul's illusions. And it also broke my indestructible sword. Your magic is the ability to break all things: Crash." 

Fiora snickered before lowering her head, eying her blade. "Good guess. But my magic is nothing so simple." Anna's eyes widened, Roubaul's too. To Fiora Nakagami, the rare and insurmountably powerful magic 'Crash' was simple? Fiora thought for a moment, she already knew her opponents magic. It seemed fair she enlighten them on hers. She had honor, after all. "My magic is the complete dissolution and breakdown of any and all things to a lower state: Deconstruction Magic. This building, made of marble, was deconstructed to rocks. Your sword: deconstructed to star bits. And your magic: deconstructed into ethernano. In addition, I'm able to deconstruct and analyze all those before me. One look and I know your magics and your weaknesses." 

With the end of her speech, Fiora began to release her magic pressure, allowing its true unbounded form impact the immediate area. The ground and sky themselves began to vibrate, trembling under the sheer force of her power. Inorganic objects began to splinter and break down into smaller states whilst said smaller objects rose slightly into the air before falling apart into dust. Any normal Mage in the vicinity would undoubtedly be choked out by the sheer force becoming victim to the deconstruction, but as Anna and Roubaul were her peers, they just braved through the might of her display, waiting for Fiora to make her next strike. 

"Meteor." Anna stated as a golden aura flared around her...for all of a second before it flickered out. Anna's eyes widened. "Roubaul." She turned to him with a panicked look in her eyes. Even her caster magic was being deconstructed into ethernano the moment it came into existence. 

"Right!" He said noticing her failed attempt at ha spell. He brought forth a small illusion, but it, too, broke into dust before it could be fully formed.

"Now do you understand why, I, Fiora Nakagami reign as one of earth finest?!" She yelled over the honey like hum of her magic. "No warrior can best me in one on one combat, and no Mage can even activate a spell when they're around me. Now! Let's finish this!" She roared as she kicked off the ground, eroding it with her touch.

Anna quickly stepped in front of Roubaul. She would, at the very least, protect him. Fiora brought the blade to her side and swiped it towards Anna, whose eyes squeezed closed. However, the sharp lick of the blade never arrived. Instead, a small black sphere suddenly appeared between Anna and Fiora, mid strike, and expanded outward with a loud creak. The miasma that accompanied the sphere pushed Anna and Roubaul back while vastly startling a, now, wide eyed Fiora. Zeref had suddenly materialized in front of her, intercepting the lethal blow. Fiora began to shake as blood spewed out of his wound, his hands gently coming up to grasp at the halberd.

"I...I....never meant to....meant to..." She stammered over her words as she took in the wound she had inflicted on Zeref. "...kill any of you..." She really hadn't. Her expertise in weaponry allotted her full control over the degree of damage she would deal to her opponents. Fiora never intended this as a fight to the death. To her, she just wanted to spar, albeit cataclysmically, but she just wanted to have some fun. Fun that no ordinary group of mage's could offer. These three were pearls to her. She wasn't expecting the man in black to materialize so fast, and thusly, she had no time to stop her swing, which was lethal at that close a distance, but would have been relatively harmless to Anna. Tears escaped her eyes, but it wasn't long before she heard chuckling from the man before her. 

That's when she noticed something she should have earlier. The Celestial Mage and the Make Mage seemed completely unmoved by their comrades impalement. The dark laughter continued to ring through her ears, slowly beginning to echo as if the sound was trapped in her skull. Her puffy eyes moved up, attempting to make eye contact through the messy and tossed hair that covered the black mage's downward tilted eyes. She could only see his eerie smile, so wide and Cheshire it seemed to stem from ear to ear, unnaturally. Something was wrong. Very wrong. 

Fiora withdrew her halberd from his abdomen and jumped backwards, increasing her magical pressure in hopes to dilapidated the dark power that was sure to emerge. Passed the black mage, she saw the former duo running swiftly into the distance, trying to separate themselves from the back wizard. 'We need to get out of here.' She heard the woman say. 'Zeref's got this.' Fiora's eyes went wide, mind blank as her body began to tremble. So this is what fear was. A sense of helplessness, despair, full knowledge that you have no chance at overcoming the opposition. The man before her, smiling mischievously, wasn't just a black wizard, he was THE black wizard.

"Z...Zeref?" She questioned placing her halberd defensively in front of her. "The Zeref?"

"Earlier, you said that your magic was the dissolution of any and all things." He ignored her question, his head now coming up so his red eyes met hers, head ragdollishly cocked to the side. She didn't have time to respond before Zeref sent out a massive, dark miasma that almost immediately cloaked the whole battlefield. The low hum of Fiora's magic was canceled out by a new swamp-like gurgling and Fiora responded with a gasp as her magical pressure was suppressed by the black miasma. It felt as if she was in a nightmare. "If your magic is the dissolution of all things..." He began as he formed a black sphere in his right hand, a sphere which was so dense with magic that blue currents of magical electricity crackled from it. "Then my magic is the death of all things." 

He threw the sphere forward. Fiora realized she didn't like the feeling of fear, and so, for the time being, she suppressed it. Her eyes narrowed on Zeref's attack and her halberd extended forward. She, however, didn't realize the intensity she would feel by just blocking the death sphere. The sphere wasn't immediately bifurcated like Fiora had intended. Instead, it pressed roughly against her blade, forcing her to exert tremendous physical force just to keep the death sphere from overpowering her. The destructive nature of the sphere soon emerged, and the blue lightning began to cascade outward, heavily damaging the terrain. Fiora's grunting switched into a yell as she pushed upward, exerting most of her strength just to deflect the sphere upward and over. Bending over, her hands came to her knees as she panted in exhaustion. Zeref responded by creating another sphere. Fiora's eyes widened as she intercepted another blow.

Roughly six spheres later, Fiora's body was on fire and her magical energy was dangerously low. She had just deflected another sphere, her halberd shattering after using more strength and power than she had. Zeref responded by generating another sphere. 

As he sent the sphere hurdling towards her, she extended her arms outward, hoping she could use dark's weakness to light. "Starlight!" She yelled as streaks of light began to emerge from the sphere itself. The death orb came to a halt as it became engulfed in divine light. And as the light overtook a majority of the black magic, the darkness began to fight back, violently. Rather than canceling out the darkness, Fiora's light simply caused an instability. And instability which erupted in luminous darkness, knocking Fiora violently back. Zeref just created another death orb. Fiora was done. She knew when she was beaten. "I forfeit!" She yelled, and the dark environment surrounding her instantly vanished. Zeref contracted his death sphere and she collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. Anna and Roubaul approached the two, Anna continuing only to stop once she stood before the collapsed warrior. "Victory is yours. Name what you desire, and I shall grant it."

Fiora was surprised when a gentle hand reached down to offer her support up. Fiora's head tilted upward upon seeing the hand, her eyes meeting gentle brown before accepting the aid. Anna raised Fiora to her feet, hands glowing as she channeled some of her magical reserves into Fiora, who had depleted hers blocking Zeref's attacks. As the two stood equal, Anna finally spoke.

"There's a battle coming, Fiora. One that will determine the fate of mankind." Fiora's face matched Anna's serious expression with reverence towards her words. "We need you to be part of it. We need you on our team."

Fiora's eyes lit up, and her lips produced a soft smile.

"Gladly."

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Casanova  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off Haitus. Promise.


	53. The Cassanova

A loud banging caused a focused Anna to shift her gaze from the papers on her desk to her office door which immediately burst open; whoever was on the other end not caring to wait for a response. "Wow! So this is your office!" Roubaul brightly observed the workspace before jumping onto one of the two couches in the center of the room. 

Anna's office was octagonal, with dark cedar book cases lining the seven sides of the room; ignoring the eight side which housed the entrance. In the middle of the room and to the left sat an elongated coffee table with dark blue sofas on the opposite sides; the closest sofa facing away from the door. Opposite the room to the right resided a large desk, Anna's study, that matched the dark red brown of the bookcases and the coffee table. Across the desk layer two sitting chairs for further company. The most unique feature of the room, Roubaul noted as he laced across the sofa looking upward, was the glass dome styled ceiling that allowed a nice view of the sky above. It was morning, early morning, and the sky was now brightening from dark blue intertwined with streaks of baby blue into a piercing orange.

Anna stood from her study and gracefully walked towards Roubaul, eyes never leaving the paper she was so intently analyzing. "How are you, Roubaul?" She haphazardly inquired as she ultimately found a seat on the sofa across from the Make Mage.

"Good, I'm good." He answered as he turned to look at Anna who only gave a small nod in acknowledgement. A few moments of awkward silence caused Roubaul to speak up again. "What are you looking at?" 

"Oh." She said looking up, the setting finally coming back into her mind. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, got distracted. What'd you ask?"

"I asked what's on those papers?" He reiterated.

"This..." She began as he held up the paper, "is a 100 year quest that's currently circulating every guild in the nation."

"Every guild?" He questioned before sitting upright. "Must be a pretty important mission, huh?"

"Here." Anna said as she held the paper out to him, pointing to a number along the top. "That's the reward."

"Holy---" he said before he became breathless at the sum. "That's a LOT of zeros." He began to read the rest of the flyer.

The Sea of Trees 

5,000,000,000 J

In all of the places in all of the world, no other has come close to claiming as many lives than the Sea of Trees. Throughout the ages, the woods have become a popular place for suicide; an ominous pull luring countless people across the nation to the green expanse. The vast acreage has become a place of death of accounted thousands and an assumed final resting place for countless more. This is a request from those families, all contributing to the pool in order to understand why their loved ones were driven to suicide; and all wanting whatever the cause to be stopped. 

This mission has been updated from S-class to 100 Year after multiple talented mages of that caliber have also met the same fate. For your safety, we will now only accept help from magical anomalies themselves, those who reside far above an S-rank.

By quintupling the reward and branching out our plea, hopefully we will come into contact with a Mage who can help us.

Thank You.

There was contact information at the bottom, and multiple pages stapled behind the flyer. As Roubaul flipped through the pages, he noted they were all just previous versions of the same request. While the general text and task remained the same, difficulty described in each flyer decreased the older the request. He became sicken at his sudden comprehension of the papers behind the first. There was only one reason the difficulty was at its current level, and the dozens of revisions could only mean one thing. "How many mages have died attempting this?"

"Would you like an official body count?" Anna asked with sadness on her lips, "Or a missing persons count?"

Roubaul understood her implications with the distinctions. Roubaul had heard of the woods, Suicide Forrest as it had been dubbed. And if the stories were true, as the flyer suggested they were, the moment everyone entered, thir life was over. 'Would you like the number of recovered bodies? Or the number of total deceased?' "Body count." He settled for the more stomach-able number.

"Mage's alone:" Anna began, making troubled eye contact with the younger male. "1,376. That's why the restrictions have increased over time. High reward, c-class rank led to the deaths of hundreds. Higher reward, b-class led to hundreds more. A-class contributed dozens. S-class led to the same."

"Why do you have this?" The thought suddenly crossed Roubaul's mind. He knew she liked to research multiple areas, but this seemed a bit morose.

"Because!" Anna exclaimed as she stood up, moving to the door, a smile on her face. She opened the door, revealing a startled Fiora, who's hand hovered in the air, indicating she was about to knock. She gave a quick 'ahem,' clearing her throat as a for of composure as she lowered her hand to her side, walking into the office as Anna sidestepped and gestured her in. "We are going to accept it!"

"What are we going to accept?" Fiora questioned as she found a seat in one of the two chairs across Anna's desk, overlapping her legs and crossing her arms, one arm falling upward causing her clenched hand to rest against her mouth in question. Her halberd laid vertical to her right, hovering a foot from the ground.

"This." Roubaul replied as he tossed the cluster of papers to Fiora who immediately began to read the request.

"Ah..." Fiora's eyes lit up. "The Wayward Woods, as my people call them."

"So you're familiar?" Anna asked in question.

"Of course." She admitted. "This flyer made its way to the Nakagami clan about a decade ago. The group that went was never seen nor heard from again and so the woods became a forbidden place for my people."

"Oh." Anna stated with disappointment, Fiora wasn't allowed to go near them... But as if Fiora understood the syllable to its fullest, she replied.

"However, as the current leader of the Nakagami, I think I can make an exception in our case. I believe---"

"And why..." Roubaul interrupted, "would we ever accept this mission?!"

"We should accept this," Anna made to answer, "because, aside from the fact it's killing innocent people, we need a mission to gauge our efficiency and relationship as a team. And I don't believe a normal mission would be of any challenge in the slightest." 

"I see." Roubaul accepted before a particular absence became known to him. "Wait. Where's Zeref?"

"I, for one, am eager to complete this task." Fiora praised by standing and raising her fist in a warriors stance. Her stance fell and an unknown characteristic suddenly lined her features. "I've never been given the chance to be on a team." 

"Anyways..." Roubaul side eyed the warrior. "Where's Zeref?"

"Our Dark Wizard Zeref..." Anna lauded as she paced her office walls, grabbing a chest amidst the multiple books and pulling out a silver band, "is already at the woods."

"Isn't the forest located at the southernmost point of our continent? That's days journey away. Also, the Forrest is a hundred millions acres, the size of a small country. How would we ever be able to locate him?" Roubaul still wiggled away from the mission.

"All the more reason it's best we leave now. As for the latter," Anna responded, "I'm fairly certain we can sense him if we focus on him. If not, I have a celestial spirit who can guide us to him."

"And as for the former," Fiora added her two cents. "We are but seconds away from the sea of trees." The two eyed her in confusion as she stood, grabbing her halberd out of the air and clicking it's bottom to the ground. The room began to surge with magical power as the floor became engulfed in a golden light which radiated outward from her staff. As the light reached the bookcases, it surged upward connecting into itself at the center of the dome shaped roof. Only Anna, Roubaul, and Fiora stood untouched by the magic, the floor, walls, and furniture now completely encased. Roubaul jumped as the couch beneath him, as well as all furniture, began to melt away; the spell seemingly smoothing itself so the trio was left standing in a small magical semicircle which then began to swirl.

"This is the same magic as the man we encountered upon arriving on your mountain." Anna starred at the spell in wonder. 

"Who do you think taught it to him?" Fiora smirked as her spell have a low him before expanding outward, a bright light causing the trio to close their eyes, opening them only to see vast foliage in front of them. Vast foliage AND a young male draped in black robes, gazing at them wide eyed.

"Zeref!" Anna greeted as she rushed over to him. Her stride faltered when he didn't move, didn't even so much as smile.

"I assume you've already briefed them?" Zeref asked rhetorically before Anna nodded. He turned heel and began to walk into the forest. "Then I need you to all follow me."

"And where exactly are we going?" Fiora questioned as she picked up a strut next to Anna and Zeref. 

"To the heart of the woods."

\----------  
Wayward Woods  
\----------

"Okay, and I'm sorry...." Roubaul began after not getting a straight answer from Zeref in the past hour. "But,what can you actually tell us about this place?"

Zeref stopped to side eye Roubaul, resuming his pace before explaining all he knew. "The woods themselves seem to emit a supermassive magical aura. A magical aura that can apparently reach the farthest parts of our continent. Whatever it is about this aura, though, it attracts people to this place. There's two things, though, that make this a bit interesting. For one, I still haven't been able to figure out why people who come here kill themselves. And two, there seems to be an epicenter for the magical aura."

"That's what you called the 'heart' earlier, no?" Anna asked as the group brushed past more foliage. One thing that became abundantly clear to the group as the entered the woods was its appearance. For a place as portentous as the woods had been dubbed, they sure were normal looking, dirt floor with dried leaves, mossy stones, high pines. Nothing out of the ordinary at all aside from the dull magical aura that surrounded them. 

"Yes." Zeref answered. "But it's weird, this type of magic outflow is so strong, it would only make sense that the epicenter be a rift into another dimension of some kind."

"You say that with question in your voice." Fiora noted.

"Because a rift into a different dimension would be stationary." Zeref stopped to sense the magic around him. "This epicenter...it moves."

The trios eyes widened. "Are you saying that..." Roubaul began, but didn't connect the implications.

"I think he's saying that this forest is sentient." Fiora and Roubaul gasped and Anna suddenly received goosebumps as a low howl eminated deep from within the forest. "Sentient...and powerful."

Fiora's eyed the expanse before her with her breakdown magic. A dull aura was leaking all around them, gently flowing outward from deeper within the woods. "I can't pinpoint the origin." 

"I see no option," Zeref stated. "Aside from splitting up and investigating. Pairs of two."

"Split up!?" Roubaul yelled. "It's already frightening enough being here!!"

"Aw, I think our Nirvite is afraid." Fiora cooed as she walked over towards Roubaul, looking up into his eyes as she grabbed his bare arm and embraced him from the side. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." She said seductively causing the young male to gulp. "What's our plan for if we find anything?" 

"If any of us manage to locate the outflow of magical energy, we need to start releasing copious amounts of our own energy. Through these dense woods, that's our best way of beaconing each other. Once we find what is releasing this magical pressure, we will hit it with this." Anna held up a silver band, the same one Roubaul and Fiora saw her pull from her shelf. It was simple and silver, with two gold nodes at the top. 

"What a beautiful bangle." Fiora said as she reached out for it. Anna smiled, knowing she would be the perfect demonstration. Fiora took it inner hand, looking at the wirey design of the silver and taking careful note of the quality of the gold on the top. "It is beautifully crafted." She admitted as she placed it on her wrist. "But how it it supposed to help ---" Her breath hitched as she toppled over, falling to her knees as her hands came up to her chest. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her...but not just her wind....it also felt as if the magic inside of her had stopped flowing. She quickly took off the bracelet and threw it at Anna's feet, gasping for breath. "What....what was that?" Fiora questioned as her magic resumed its normal flow through her body.

"This." Anna started as she picked up the bracelet from the dead leaves of the forest floor. "Is an invention of my creation. It's a magic sealing device that halts the flow of magic. This is just the prototype; before Zeref and I hatched a new plan, I was designing it as a weapon against Acnologia, but it should work for this."

"Understood." Fiora nodded as she grabbed Roubaul by the wrist. "Roubaul and I shall investigate the central southern east. Zeref and Anna, I assume you two shall investigate the central west. I will flare my aura if we find the source. Good luck." She finished by clicking her halberd to the ground, engulfing her and Roubaul inflowing light before the flickered out of existence.

Anna turned towards Zeref. "Race you there?" She beamed as she began to flare golden light, activating her meteor spell.

Zeref just sighed and wrapped himself in dark magic as she zoomed out of sight. He could help but let slip a small smile.

\----------  
Midnight: Roubaul and Fiora  
\----------

Half a days search had yielded nothing. And as the light of the forest died down, the temperature dropping harshly, Roubaul had created a fire. He was now stretched out, relaxing, head resting against a large fallen tree, a log. He was twiddling his thumbs, eying the flames intensely. Intensely, due to the fact he was trying his near damnedest to not sneak inappropriate glances at his beautiful, scratch that, gorgeous teammate sitting atop the stump of tree she had sliced down. The flames cackling, Roubaul braved a quick glance. Fiora was sitting atop her stump with her legs gently crossed, her back leaning away from the fire as her hands propped her up. As she turned her head, quietly looking to the right and into the dense woods, Roubaul couldn't help but gasp as the beautiful illuminated glow of her soft yet strong skin and the perfect color of red that the fire accented in her hair. Her eyes, a steel gray, were mesmerizing under the light of the flames, and earlier, when she had smiled, her already pearl white teeth stood out even more. Boy did he have a crush. 

"Everything alright?" Fiora questioned as soon as he had let out his breath in an exasperated way.

"Ya, why wouldn't it be?" He snapped. Fiora smirked and looked back to the fire.

"I was just asking." If Fiora had said she was innocent in sneaking glances at her teammate, she would be lying. As he sat there, twiddling his thumbs in a cute, so Fiora thought, way, she watched as the toned muscles in his arms twitched to accommodate his finger movements. Her people were a people of creamy skin, and so seeing someone as tan as Roubaul was quite interesting to her. And the darkened skin was something she could appreciate. Appreciate, especially when she was watching it on his rising and falling chest, just as toned as the arms. The jewelry he wore definitely helped, it showed power amongst his people. And his Aura showed an equality in magical abilities. That was part of the reason Fiora had never had a crush. She was 27 and had never met her equal. This man was just that. It was now her that sighed at the silly notion of feelings.

"You okay?" Roubaul questioned this time, looking directly at Fiora who blushed under his gaze.

"Just fine." She lied. This was stupid, until she met this group she was fearless. Paralyzingly fear due to Zeref's death magic could be understood, by why was she so outdone by the mere prospect of feelings. She could no longer call herself strong if she didn't brave past this, be bold. But there was just one problem... Fiora knew how beautiful she was, she was confident, but what she held no mental strength in was sex appeal. She had always been bold, brazen, and some intrinsic feeling inside of her told her that those two characteristics would scare away most men. Then again, Roubaul wasn't most men. An idea popped inside her head and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing up and down along her exposed arms. She let out a quiet and fake shiver.

Roubaul, who heard the 'brrr,' looked once more away from the flames. All he could think when he saw her rubbing her bare arms was how much he wanted to hold her like she was holding herself, to plant kisses along every inch of her body. "You...you cold?" He stammered over his thoughts.

"It's just that..." Fiora said as seductively as she could muster, but it still came across as concise. She mentally slapped herself, before standing up and walking over to Roubaul, making sure to sway her hips as much as possible and finding a seat immediately next to him, so close that their exposed arms touched, sending jolts of electricity down the other. "All my missions have made me greedy. I've become accustomed to the heat of another person." She finished by rubbing one finger up Roubaul's arm which had him shivering. Roubaul shot her a glance of an indistinguishable origin. Fiora couldn't make out exactly what he was feeling, however she immediately paled as she remembered exactly what she had just said.

"Oh. No! I...I didn't mean to imply that I sleep around.... I haven't slept with any men. Well, not any men, some men. Mostly women!" Roubaul just continued to look at her. "I didn't mean like that, either! Im not even talking about sex, just body heat! Ugh...I'm...I'm not a lesbian!! Shoot, not that there's anything wrong with being a lesbian!! I just...." She finally sighed, face as red as her hair from embarrassment. Defeated she made to stand up before a hand stopped her ascent.

"You're adorable. Even when you ramble." Roubaul admitted before blushing, pulling her suddenly atop himself so that her right hip rested upon his lower stomach, her body turned to face him. He gently moved his hand downward to intertwine his fingers with hers and moved his other hand to the back of her head, bringing her lips closer to his. And as the lips touched, the two swore they were ablaze with electricity and sparks. Fiora couldn't help herself. She readjusted herself so that her hips were now hugging Roubaul's bringing him closer and they ground into each other, both letting out gasps as their sensitive areas were lit with pleasure. Roubaul's hands wandered Fiora's exposed portions while, as Roubaul only wore pants, her hands freely roamed every inch she could find. 

Fiora's eyes widened suddenly. She pushed Roubaul back further against the log with a loud 'ow' as Fiora stood up. "Roubaul, get down!" She yelled as she ran back to the stump she was previously sitting on, grabbing her halberd and forcing her magical power into the blade. Roubaul complied just as she swung her blade around herself. A thousand metallic noises resounded in the forest and then....quiet. Roubaul, who placed himself into a fetal position out of panic, meekly looked up, standing when nothing seemed to be wrong.

"Fiora!? What the hell?" As he finished the trees surrounding them, and far, far beyond, all toppled over, from a blade slice. Fiora had easily cleared miles of terrain with one swoop of her blade.

"Sh." She instructed as the trees continued to fall in a domino style away from them. "Do you feel that?"

Roubaul activated his senses...much to his disappointment. "No, I don't feel it. I don't feel anything!"

"Exactly!" She declared as she walked over towards him. "Neither do I."

"I'm confused." 

"We don't like each other! Before this forsaken forest, ooh good name, we never felt anything for the other, right?!" She seemed delighted, much to Roubaul's dismay. He liked her the moment he saw her.

"Uh, right." He affirmed, going to scratch the back of his head. That stung.

"Don't you see, Roubaul. This forest, people say it 'attracts them,' and based on you and me, it makes people like each other!!" She declared.

"Love....even..." Roubaul added. If love was supposed to be so great a feeling, why did he feel shitty all of a sudden.

"Even love..." Fiora reinforced, looking down and away as she blushed.

"Fiora...." Roubaul said gently, causing the girl to look up hopefully. She too, had feelings for the boy, but her magic told her that the small feelings held were being magnified. Still, though, she felt disappointed when he spoke again. "Why, though, would that make people die?"

"I'm...I'm not entirely sure." Her eyes snapped up with one more realization, a detrimental and time sensitive realization. "We need to go, now!"

"Why?!" Roubaul questioned as she rushed past him full stride.

"This forest makes people love each other, right?"

"More than likely."

"Anna and Zeref are still out there!"

"So?"

"What happens to things that Zeref loves?"

\----------  
Midnight: Anna and Zeref  
\----------

"These woods aren't all bad." Anna admitted, laying on the ground, gazing at the roof of the forest. With her arms behind her head, she turned to look at Zeref, who sat cross-cross a few feet from her, eying her intently. "Actually, if I had to pick a word to describe them it'd be....'romantic.'"

"Is that so?" He questioned looking upon the blonde. She was beyond beautiful, her brown eyes glistening under the veil of darkness while her light hair juxtaposed the surroundings. Her hourglass figure was to die for, but above all else, Zeref truly enjoyed her mind. It was fascinating, brilliant, and her magic? But it didn't matter. None of what he felt did. If he didn't push those thoughts away, she would die. He would value her and she would become worthless. Zeref, biologically was younger than her. Almost 8 years difference, but maybe if they manage to defeat the god they were going after, maybe, just maybe, he could reverse the curse upon Zeref. And then maybe, just maybe, he could allow himself to feel for Anna. Zeref mentally slapped himself. 

"For some reason, yes. But romance seems to be off the table for me. I feel just as you are cursed with life, I am cursed with romantic affairs." She giggled to herself. Anna wouldn't be interested, she had already found the love of her life. She had already bore a child. She had already sworn to destroy the love of her life, when she lost him to power. And she had already sworn to protect her child, sending her off to be raised in secret so that Acnologia could never find her. 

"Why do you say that?" When she didn't answer, he pushed the topic. "Because of Acnologia?"

Anna sighed and seated herself upright. "And why do you suddenly want to talk about him...er..it."

"Because it's no secret to me that Acnologia was the love of your life. And then he gave you someone you could love even more. And then, all because of power and corruption and that damned high enchantress, you lost everything."

"Has there been any word on the whereabouts of the Queen of Dragnof?" Anna made for a topic change. 

"You're changing the subject." Zeref declared as he stood from the ground walking past Anna to sit on a log. "But, no. She's still missing. And it's not like I'd recognize her face...I never met her."

"That's unfortunate." Anna stated as she eyed Zeref, taking note of his dark complexion against pale skin. He was older than her, but he retained his 21 year old youth. He was cute, definitely, and Anna momentarily wondered why she had never noticed this before. "It's a shame...she would have made a good addition to our team...albeit with a little bit of refinement." Zeref didn't respond. He just held his head in his hands as he lustfully looked at Anna. She couldn't recognize the face he was making, but she was absolutely sure she had never seen him look at anything that way. It was almost as if, for the first time, Zeref was looking at her, not casually glancing over her as he did with everything; she began to blush. "Why...why did you bring up Acnologia?"

"Perhaps I wanted to know if you still held feelings for him." Zeref admitted.

"And why would you want to know that?" Anna stood up, looking at Zeref quizzically as he, too, stood.

"Maybe I just wanted to know if you were ready to move on to someone else..." Zeref walked closer towards Anna who was seemingly drawn in by his mystery, just as he was suddenly drawn in by her beauty.

"And...and who might that someone else be?" Anas breath hitched as the two became almost uncomfortably close. Anna couldn't think. Neither could Zeref. Something seemed off.

"That someone else could be right in front of you."

"Zeref..." She softly breathed to object, but something seemed to stop her and she found herself leaning towards him.

"Anna." He responded as he matched her pace, and together they slowly closed the distance...or at least they would have if a magically embedded halberd didn't strike Zeref through the head, sending him flying sideways. Anna shrieked as Fiora and Roubaul ran up to the two of them.

"Are you okay?" Roubaul asked Anna who seemed shaken, having just seen a man be stabbed through the temple. She looked over at Fiora who placed her foot against Zeref's lifeless chest, pushing off as she grabbed her weapon and dislodged it from his skull. 

"Ow." Zeref said as he regenerated, standing to angrily eye Fiora. "And WHAT was that for...?"

"You and Anna were about to kiss. I couldn't physically reach you in time."

"We were about to what?" Zeref asked, somehow forgetting the events of a minute ago.

"To kiss. And we all know what Zeref's magic does to things he likes." Roubaul stated as Anna looked at both of them like they were crazy. "This forest, Fiora and I found out it manipulated how people feel."

Anna seemed surprised, she hadn't felt the way the way she was being manipulated, but hindsight made her feel like an idiot. "You're right...suddenly the suicides make a lot of sense....but..."

"But we still have to find the source." Zeref finished for her, angered he let his feelings be played with.

"Actually." A new voice interrupted the four, causing them to look up. Their eyes widened as they spotted a man, draped in dilapidated attire. He stood tall, and Fiora and Anna both noted his astonishing physical beauty. "The 'source' has found you."

"Who are you?!" Anna demanded as Zeref's eyes widened from the familiar feeling of the man. 

Without hesitation, he extended his arms placing his open palms outward, wrists touching. His pinky and pointer extended on the top hand and his pointer and middle extended on his bottom. "Death Pillar!" Zeref yelled as an enormous amount of black magic surrounded the new figure. The sheer aura of the attack staggering the other three as the Black Death cascaded upwards in a monstrous column. The surrounding trees began to wither as the attack grew in intensity and Fiora, Roubaul, and Anna all had to raise their magical defenses to avoid also being hit. The attack immediately contracted, leaving the target lying face down in the deadened earth and soil of the Forrest floor.

"Zeref!" Anna yelled. "What the hell was that for?!" 

"He was the source. I had to stop it." 

"There would have been other ways!"

"Impressive." A voice suddenly escaped the center of Zeref's blast. All eyes looked towards it. There's no way this man could have survived that onslaught. "Contradictory Curse, no?"

"Just as I thought." Zeref admitted as he watched the man stand, completely unphased by the instant death that was Ankhseram black magic. 

"You...." Fiora began.

"You're..." Roubaul also started.

"An immortal." The man answered. "Just like your friend."

"H...how?" Roubaul questioned halfassed.

"O suppose the short answer is: I ticked of a goddess. Regardless, you need to all leave this place, before you all fall to the same fate as the others."

"You mean the suicides?" Fiora clarified. "You're responsible for those?"

The man nodded quietly, sadness lining his features.

"And why do you think you're responsible for these suicides?!" Anna demanded.

"That..." The man began, "is a story that starts with my birth."

"I think we can all spare some time." Zeref spoke harshly for the group as he gestured the man to continue. 

"My mother was a princess, and my father: a prince. They were the eldest royalty of two powerful neighboring kingdoms. The kingdoms Mi and Di had been at war for a century and after that long, some citizens grew tired of laying down their lives due to the constant feuding. Two rebels from either side met and decided that the quicker way to enact a ceasefire would be to make the Prince of Mi and the Princess of Di fall in love. If the rebels could get the two to fall for the other, the feuding would be stopped the moment they were old enough to grab throne. However, there was one problem: they each hated the others kingdoms and all who lived within. The rebels soon realized this, and so they went to an immensely powerful wizard, a wizard who gave them the means to make the prince and princess fall in love..."

"A love potion...?" Anna said under her breath. 

"Exactly. One of the most taboo magics in existence. The potion proved successful and drove the prince and princess mad for each other. And while they were under the effects of the love potion, they copulated. That was the night of my conception. Conceived under the effects of a love potion."

"That violates so many magical laws..." Fiora leaned forward, immersed in the man's story.

"It does." The man admitted. "And the ramifications of violating such laws was that I was born with an immeasurable amount of magical power. I, however, despite copious amounts of magical energy, never took it upon myself to learn magic. Instead I devoted my attention elsewhere... Even though I didn't learn a form of magic, I still housed that immense power, and part of that immense power was the aura I gave off. My aura was unique; when exposed to it, you never felt overwhelmed of overburdened, instead my aura seemed to attract people, and over time it bolstered my popularity. The kingdoms were long since unified, and my popularity and charisma, both byproducts of the love potion, maintained peace for my parents."

"Oh wow..." Roubaul added before bluntly adding. "So where's the part where you get cursed?"

The man let out a half smile. "As I grew, so did my already colossal magical reserves, as well as their effect on my surrounding. Likability on my end turned to love for countless men and women across my parents kingdom. Not a day went by where I didn't have someone confessing their love to me. Rejecting them hurt. I never meant for any of them to be placed in that position, but I never quite understood the pain they'd feel upon their love going unrequited. All it took was one time... One of the many girls who confessed to me later took her own life. I can't even remember her face amongst the crowd... But her death was what incurred the wrath of a goddess."

"I'm so sorry." Zeref admitted sincerely. "It seems the ones that have noble intentions are the victims of these deities."

"The Goddess of Love, Amara, affixed the Curse of Amity unto me. I guess she thought I was playing with people's emotions." The man held up his palm and released a sphere of white light. Fiora responded by activated her breakdown magic to understand the mechanics behind it. "The more I love people, the more unstable this magic becomes, while the more I dismiss others, the more I can control this magic. This is what has been causing the deaths in this forest. So long as I value lives, this magic causes people emotions to be set ablaze with inconsistency."

"So the deaths of this forest...?" Anna questioned, not understanding why people were killing themselves. 

"My magic pressure draws people from vast distances. When they get here, they fall in love. And when that love goes unrequited, they can't bring themselves to continue living... So they kill themselves."

"Your magic..." Fiora interrupted as she continued to analyze his magic with Breakdown, noticing a strange complexity behind it. "At its core, it's able to completely alter the value of a human drive. In this case, love." 

"What?" The man seemed genuinely taken back by her words.

"I'm so sorry that you've been put through this." Anna admitted as she stood up, walking closer to the man. "What's your name?" 

"Some things...are lost with time." He finished by kicking his forward, pushing dead leaves off of the forest floor to reveal layered brick and stone. Anna eyed it. At one point, it was clearly a road of some kind.

"Is..is this where your kingdom once stood?" He nodded.

"I watched my civilization fall. And with this curse, I didn't really wish to find a new one. It was I who grew this forest, and I who secluded myself here. Although, even this remote seclusion seems to not be enough..." 

"What would you say if we could help you?" Anna said as she pulled the magic sealing bangle from her pocket. The man narrowed his eyes, taking a step back.

"What...what is that?" He continued to eye the bracelet. Whatever it was, it had a beyond startling feeling about it. While most things gave off an aura, even dead things, this metal piece in her hands was devoid of anything. Like a black hole in the palm of her hand.

"This is a device of my own making. So long as you have this on, it will completely seal away your magic power." Anna turned to Zeref as she handed the bracelet to the man. "I..I actually made this for you, Zeref. So that you could live a normal life, magic free. But my tests show that your magic is too strong... You'd destroy it."

"Thank you." Zeref looked down. It was rare he saw compassion from anyone. Anna was always that exception though, always thinking of others and never thinking for herself. The man twirled the bracelet between his fingers, eyeing it with curiosity.

"So, I wear this...and my magic is suspended?" Anna just nodded and he snapped on the bangle. There was a rushing sound, a sound that seemed to be the auditory remnants of his copious magic being pulled back to it's origin. Even a small wind kicked up as the man was brought to his knees at the shock from the magic plunge he was experiencing, just as Fiora had before him. All at once the sound stopped and the groups eyes widened as the man stood up.

"He... He has even more magic power?!" Roubaul yelled shocked, the man's dull aura now reflecting what seemed like their combined groups magic.

"N...no" Anna admitted as she walked closer towards him and outstretched her palm towards him, sensing his magic. "He has vastly less.... The stone, somehow, wasn't enough to seal him completely... His magic, isn't spread out anymore...it's been reduced and condensed..."

"Then how come he feels more powerful?" Fiora questioned.

"Transcendence Theory." Zeref answered. 

"Exactly." Anna supplemented.

"And that is...?" Fiora questioned once more.

"Transcendence Theory is a theory that suggests there are people like him, people who are so vastly powerful that people couldn't actually perceive their magic power in the same way that we can't perceive Earthland's reserves." Zeref educated them.

"Yea, but people felt his, that's what brought them here!" Roubaul cried.

"Yes, it did, it affected us too." Anna admitted causing herself as well as Roubaul and Fiora to blush. "But now that he is closer to our power level, he actually feels stronger. And as I said before, his magic, which was previously spread out, is now condensed, stronger in the immediate area and undetectable far away." 

"Well, I don't feel stronger." The man admitted. "I, actually, feel rather light headed. I don't even believe my magic was this low at birth. And if my magic isn't felt far away, then..."

"Then the bracelet worked." Zeref finished. "Your magical pressure won't affect anyone as it no longer escapes these woods."

"I...." The man's voice broke before he fell to his knees and brought his hands up to his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You all have no idea how thankful I am. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Well, I have an idea." Anna knelt beside him and began to pay his back as the sobs began to quiet down. "What if I told you that us four were planning a move. A move against the 12 strongest gods. The Dodici. All in order to save the world."

His eyes snapped up towards Anna, standing immediately and looking down at her, warning in his voice. "I'd caution you to not. You all would be lucky to defeat one, let alone 12."

"We aren't going after all of them, just their leader. The God of Weight." Roubaul corrected. The man seemed to soften, but his face remained firm.

"We could use someone like you on our team." Anna said softly.

"I'm...I'm sorry." The man answered after a moments thought. "My magic isn't offensive or supportive in any way. I couldn't offer anything." 

Anna hadn't considered this. She looked down in understanding and disappointment. "I understand. I got ahead of myself."

"But, let me ask you something." He started allowing Anna to nod in a continuation. "How do you plan on even getting to the Divine Plane?" All of them just looked at each other in confusion. That was something none of them had actually considered. "I see." The man chuckled as he looked down, eyes coming up to meet Anna's. "In that case, I can offer you information. The entrance to the divine realm is in the city known as Mildean."

The others gasped. "Mildean?!" Anna asked. "The entrance has been where I live this entire timeline!?"

"Yes." The man affirmed. "And there's only one way for you to get inside. You'll need someone cataclysmically powerful, a non human, to blast through the barrier. I believe it impossible for humans to enter on their own."

"And where are we going to find a non-human that powerful?" Fiora folded her arms.

Anna gulped as her body began to prickle with fear. "I...I have someone in mind."

"Anna. No!" Zeref reprimanded.

"Zeref, it's fine. But, we all need to go. Now. Fiora can you get us back to Mildean?" She nodded, clicking her staff to the ground as Anna turned towards the man. "May our path's one day cross again. I can't repay you for all you've done. Stay safe." She finished. The man smiled at her as she and the other three were engulfed in gold light, soon disappearing from existence.

The man's soft smile turned Cheshire as he turned around and outstretched his arm, the white light of his power forming a sphere above his palm. Your power...it's able to completely alter the value of a human drive. "Believe me, the information you gave me is more valuable than anything I could have given you."

\----------  
Next Chapter: The Black Dragon  
\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, perhaps, one of the most important chapters in my story. It seems rushed due to how much had to be included. Enjoy.
> 
> Also. I condensed the two Roubaul Chapters into one, thus moving the Fiora chapter from 53 to 52 and this from 54 to 53.
> 
> I'll go back later and we work the Casanovas intrisuction. I had to rush it to start on the next chapter. Only 2 more to go before the Memory Arc is over and we get back to Lucy in an all new arc: The Tetraforce Invasion Arc. 
> 
> The plot for the story is roughly finalized. The arc order is and is going to be: Magical Anomaly Arc, Grand Magic Games x794 arc, Suberashi Origin Arc, Tetraforce Invasion Arc, World War Arc, Lazarus Arc, and Dodici Arc.


End file.
